The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-23 00:00:00

REPULSE AT THE MOUTH OF THE

PEIHO.

(From the .1-lo7newaed
In a war which the Emperor waged in Thibet,
his army suffered greater losses than were foreseen.
Some of the Chinese officers immediately fancied
that they perceived European troops and the effect
of European discipline in opposition to them. They
discovered hats, as well as turbans among their
enemies. The former, it was concluded, could be
only English." These words of the historian of
Lord Macartney's embassy offer a curious coinci-
dence with the remarks of some of the English
journals of the present day in recording the late dis-
aster in China. The intelligence that a British force
had been repulsed by the much-ridiculed Chinese
was received at first in Europe with an astonish-
ment almost amounting to incredulity. This feel-
ing of surprise has suggested the interposition of
European skill and courage in behalf of our ene-
mies. For our own part, although of course it is
possible, perhaps even probable, that the Russians
may have sent a few officers in disguise to direct
the efforts of the enemy, we nevertheless believe
that the successful defence of the entrance into the
Peiho is quite explicable in another way. The
Chinese have now been carrying on a war against us
for a considerable period ; and it is not to be sup-
posed a nation of so imitative as well as inventive
a turn will not improve in war as well as in other
things. It is also to be remembered that from
Pekin northwards the population is increasingly
Tatar, and that the Tatars are more warlike, more
robust, and more hostile to us than the Chinese.
But there are other circumstances which render
it a matter of great difficulty to force the entrance
of the Peiho, and call for the sustained and careful
operations of a powerful force beforce beforce it can
be reasonably expected that they will be overcome.
Although the Peiho River is one-third of a mile in
width, and three fathoms deep at low water in the
main channel within the bar, yet the bar itself is a
most formidable obstacle. At low tide there is not
more than three or four feet water upon it, and in
many places it is almost dry. The deep-water
Channel within is difficult to find, the river being
full of shoals. It is, of course, easy to increase the
obstacles to the passage artificially, so as to render
the ascent of the river almost impossible. But even
were the obstructions at the mouth of the river
overcome, and the forts in that locality taken, im-
mense difficulties would still remain to be van-
quished. After eighty miles of such meanderings
as render the passage by water twice that by land,
the city of Tien-Sing is reached, the port of Pekin,
and itself not much smaller than Liverpool. This
city,, which has a strong garrison of Tatars, would
have to be taken and held, or burned ; another ad-
vance must then be made to Tong-choo, a consider-
able place twenty miles from Pekin and sixty from
Tien-Sing. Here vessels of war would have to stop,
for there is no communication by water, for yachts
even, between Tong-shoo and Pekin. But sup-
posing all these difficulties surmounted, Pekin would
have to be taken, a city with three millions of in-
habitants, with walls thirty feet high, and with a
strong garrison of Tatars. Even here success
would be of no avail unless the road to Zhehol was
occupied in force by the English troops. At
this place, which is a hundred and forty miles north
of Pekin, and forty miles north of the Great Wall, I
the Emperor has his summer quarters, and thither I
he would be sure to retreat if danger appeared im-
minent. Zhehol is situated in a mountainous coun-
try, and there are some difficult defiles to be passed
over the worst of which the Great Wall is carried'
It was the consideration of these difficulties which
made us so long as April of last year write as fol-
lows :—" The rights of foreigners will never be
duly respected in China, and the trade with that
country never be put on a fair footing, until the
representatives of the European States are suffered
to reside in the Imperial capital, and to confer per-
sonally with the great officers immediately about
the Emperor. Such privileges will never be ob-
tainad without an armed demonstration at Pekin
itself, which shall teach the Son of Heaven his utter
inability to resist the Western Powers. To us it
seems that it would be greater economy in the end,
real mercy to the unoffending Chinese population,
and more in accordance with the dignity of Eng-
land, to despatch a powerful armament to the Gulf
of Pe-chi-lih ; and, having a strong detachment of
light vessels up the river from Peiho, proceed to
land a division of troops still more to the north, so
as to command the great road to Mantchouria "
To the scheme of operations proposed so long ago
in the above extract we still adhere. It is pos-
sible, indeed, that the mere appearance of an
imposing force may induce the Chinese again
to pretend submission, but it does not appear to
us at all likely that there will be any satisfactory
peace until the Emperor has been convinced of his
inability to maintain the struggle against us. This
can only be done by occupying his capital, and
cutting off his retreat. Supposing, therefore, the
plan suggested above to be followed, it is evident
that the expedition to the northward of the Peiho
would be still more important than that intended
for forcing a passage up tke river. Indeed, this
latter might be merely a false attack to divert the
attention of the enemy while the main force was
penetrating into the interior. And here it must be
added that it is very desirable some cavalry should
be sent. The country round Pekin can supply good
strong horses, and forage is abundant.
The-great difficulty, however, remains to be men-
tioned. The Gulf of Po-chi-lih is a bad place for a
rendezvous in winter. There is no known port
where the expedition could rssemble. Storms are
freqnent from September to January, and dense
fogs not uncommon. The islands of Sha-lu•tien,
fifty miles from the mouth of the Peiho, offer but
little shelter, being little better than sandbanks.
The water shoals near them suddenly from
seventeen fathoms to six. The coast of the main-
land is so low that it cannot be seen two miles off.
Near Tung-coo "it is low and swampy, and covered
in great measure with the long and not useless reed
called arundo phrapnites, generally found in
grotifils liable to be inundated." On the whole,
the locality is by no means promising as a place for
a fleet to assemble. There will be ample room for
the exhibition of naval tactics ; and we have no
doubt, that our officers will prove themselves fully
equal to the occasion.

THE DAMAGED LETTERS OF THE
NORTHAM.

Mr. Alfred Smee, of the Bank of England, in a
letter— to a contemporary, says :—" Many, letters
have .been delivered by the Indian mail greatly
damaged, and in some cases perfectly illegible from
the action of the sea water, at the late injury of the
Northam. I have successfully restored the writing
of one of these letters by a process I believe to be
as old as the hills, though I am assured quite
unknown to our merchants and bankers. Having
been requested to publish this process for their
information, I have only to state that the recovery
of writing so obliterated is extremely simple. The
lettei;should be lightly once brushed over with
dilutennuriatic acid, the strength as sold as such
at all chemists' shops. As soon as the paper is
thoroughly damped it must be again brushed over
with a saturated solution of yellow ferruginate of
potash, when immediately the writing appears in
Prussian blue. In this latter operation plenty of
the liquid should be employed, and care must be
taken that the brush be not used so roughly as to
tear the surface of the paper. This result is obtained
by simple chemical laws, as the iron which existed
in the writing ink is retained in the fibre of the
paper, and by the action of ferruginate of potash,
Prussian blue is formed, the use of the muriatic
acid being simply to place the iron under circum-
stances favourable to the action of the ferruginate
of potash. This letter should then be washed in a
basin of clean water and dried first bet Neen the
folds of blotting-paper, and subsequently by holding
it before the fire, when the letter is fit for the
counting-house. If the letter should be of much
permanent value, I recommend it to be carefully
sized with a solution of isinglass before being filed,
but if the paper has been much rotted the operation
requires care, and should not be done until a nota-
rial copy or photograph has been taken. Where
the operation is to be conducted by those having
some kiii) vledge of chemistry a little of the solution
of the red ferruginate of potash may be added to the
yellow, as in some cases it would render the colour
more complex."

THE NEW ZEALAND MAILS.—The fine clipper
ship Blue Jacket, belonging to _Messrs. Wilson and Cham-
bers, White Star line of Australian packets, reached Liver-
pool yesterday, after a rapid run from Melbourne, which
port she left on the 3d of July. She has 36,010 ounces of
golddust and £ll,OOO on freight. The Blue Jacket has
brought the New Zealand mails, which were too late for
the Juno steamer from Melbourne.
THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH AND THE LlFE-
eo.vr's CREW.--On the Bth of March last the French bri-
gantine Gonsalve, of Nantes, got embayed off Padstow, and,
on making for the harbour, was caught by the eddy winds at
the entrance, and driven by the tide and heavy sea on to the
Doombar Sand, when her crow were immediately placed in
extreme danger. The Padstow lifeboat, which belongs to
the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, was launched with
great promptness, and, through a very heavy sea, which
repeatedly broke over and filled the boat, succeeded in rescu-
ing the crew of seven persons, and conveying them safely
to the shore. The vessel shortly after went to pieces. The
lifeboat was at the time under the command of Daniel Shea,
her coxswain, who is the commissioned boatman of the
coast guard. A short time ago the Emperor of the French
presented to Shea a large silver medal for his courageous
services on the occasion. His Majesty also gave a silver
but smalitir medal to each of the men who formed the crew
of the lifeboat. On the 15th of March this same valuable
lifeboat rescued, during a terrific sea, the crew of four men
and a pilot' of the Prince Frederick William, of Ipswich.
For this and the previous service, Shea was presented with
the silver medal of .he National Lifeboat Society, in addi-
tion to the usual pecuniary reward which -the lifeboat's
crews of the institution always receive for their services.