The Sun.
London, England, 1817-08-25 00:00:00

•

LORD AMHERST'S VOYAGE TO CHINA.

Airived at Spit lead, on ,Sunday mOrning—se`n-
ni.ht in the ship Cam-, Captain TAYLOR,' his
Excellency Lord AMIMST, His Lordship sail-
ed front Portsmouth on the 9th of Fcbmry,

1816, on an en►bassy to the Court of Pekin, an
board his Majesty's frigate A Icesle, Capt. Mutt-
RAY aceonipanied by the Lyra brig
of war, Captain BASIL lIALL, and the General
Hewitt Indianian, Captain GAMPIFLL.

His Lorthhip touched at Aladeira, Rio Janeiro,
the Cape of Good Hope, and Batai°ia ; and the
voyage was extraordinary for its rapidity, the
ships having traversed 14;000 miles in 92 days

under sail. In the- beginning of July the ent;•
be.:,q arrived on the coast of China, and proceed-
ed up• the Yellow Sea : having been joined by
Sir GEORGE STAUNTON, at Great Lemma ; Sir
GEORGE having been sent down to say the em-
bassy would be received with every attention.—
On the 9th of August the embassy disembatked
safely in the Gulf .of Pc Cheli, which is not far
ditoaut from the Capital.: Whilst on the journey
every effort was made by th.e Mandarins to induce
l!is Excellency to comply with the Tartar cere-
Molly of the Ka-ton'---which was resisted on. the
ground of the precedent of Lord MACART-NaY
but every demonstration of respect, consistent
..with the dignity of his Sovereign, and the honour
of his nation, was.freely offero by his ECcelleney.
The degrading ceremony of kneeling and knocking
the head (the literal expression in Chinese) nine
limes against the ground, is not only demanded.
from the Ambassadors. of_ all tributary Kings (as
every Sovereign of the world is indiscriminately
called), when in the Imperial presence, but like-
wise on, receiving any mess,Zge from the Emperor,
and on broken yictuals -beiug sent to. them from
his table: and this *as actually submitted to by

the Dutch in 1795. 'The -Chinese, for obvious'
_
reasons, were extremely anxious for the perform-
ance of this ceremony by a British Ambassador ;
and threats, flatteries, and lies in abundance, were
used, in order to induce cotnplinnce, but all in vain.
.A most extraordinary scene took place at the Pa-
lace of YEVEN-,MIN YUEN, which,. with many
other singular- circumstances attending the depar-
ture from Pekin,. and the' journey of four mouths
through the celestiO Empire, will very soon be
laid before the public. The Emperor, a man of
impetuous and capricious
.disposition, :increased
by a habit of constant inebriation', seemed, in his
cooler moments, .afraid of the consequences of his
Abrupt disnrissal of t he' Embassy, .as. appeared by
his sending atter it, to request some exchange of
presents, and expressing himself satisfied of the
respectful feelings of the
.Kiny; of ENGLAND, who
had sent so far to h.im attributing the
Whole blame of the affair to-the unmannerly con-
duct of the, Ambassador, who refused to knock

head, as in duty bound, and according to the cow-
won roles of politeness. The Embassy, .on. the
tour through China,
.experienced the most perfect
respect. The •Ateeste and Lyra, after landing .the
Embassy, ."ere emplOyed ia surveys ; -the former
taking the. Golf of .Leatory And coast .Cores,
the latter tbe south - western coast
.of that
Gulph. The Alceste went as far as the junction of
the great wall of China with the sea, which was
seen from the ship. Both ships joined company tar

Che-a-Ton, or Ze-a-Tou 1,14- mis. The trnerr si-
tioos of the coasts and island.. of Chinese TartUry,
and much useful Itydrographical knowledge, were
obtained, whereby form,r errors are correct d.---
Steering afterwards tor the Corean shore, :they
found former geogtriPttical descriptions of it mi-
serably detective
,and an archipelago of Islands;
hitherto unknown to exist, were discovered. Many
k% ere cliristenerl:with particular names, fl'ad correct ,
chain Made of the' true position of the whole.—
The ships then proceeded to the sinithwaol of
Japan, and arrived at the Livon Kicon
More ,hydrographical knowledge. was obtaiiied.,
and an intimate acquaintance formed with thepa-
lives, ©f whom, hitherto, little was known, 'find
themselves scarce knowing any thing about the test
ot the world. At Grand Leuchen, the chief; of
this kitigrhirn of Islands, the ships'refitted, amt log
a race of people as extraordinary for their chilli-
nutiKe size as for their general character. They
:are of great antiquity and considerable civilita-
tion--vossess much ot the rigid, natural jealousy
and' reserve of their neighbours, the Japanese
and Chinese. On further acquaintance, they were
thund an interesting people ; in the highest de-
gree kind and hospitable ; and after a stay of six
weeks, both pasties separated With evident, proofs
of mutual regret. We are informed, Irons good '
authority, that Captain IlAsti. VIAL!, (of the Lyra)
is preparing an account of this Island and peoplc;
7,is also a generat,history of scientific objects con-
nected with the voyage; whia:h will be enriched
with charts and engravings. From hit' superior
intelligence on hydrographicat and scientific sub-;
jects in general, a work from his handi.cannot
fail of beinghighly interesting.
The Alceste and Lyra arrived et the ni6ittli of
the Tigris in Novernber, and Were treated with
every indignity by the Viceroy,of Canton, who
refused a pass for the ships to enter. the river,. as
had been granted to the Lion; on a former occa-
sion dills attempting to cut off the supply of
tresh waterand proViSions; which could only be
brought on board by stealth after dark ; and va-
rious other insults were offered.- Capt. MA xwaLL,
justly considerhig that the honour tit the flag must
suffer.by a tante .submission, proceeded up tvith-
,
out a pass. The Mandarins strongly manned the
forts (containing 11.0 pieces of cannon) at the
„Bricett Tigris, and uut a tueskise, as the ship

rPRIC E Sh7ENPENCE.

advanced, that they (the Alceste),
she auenipted' to pass throngh: She nevertl,e-
less pushed on;. and a warm firing commenced
front the forts, anti their war jnnks, which was
immediately returned by the Alceste, which
tint; within pistol shat ''of their largest fort, a wtll-
- was poured in, which laid a num-
ber sprawliog, and fairly drove the rest h es over
head out of the ha:leery : the ship now proceeded
up ,to her safe and proper anchorage, followed,
Lint, onotolested, ,by war. junks. '.l\7text day the
Viceroy
,(having been nlw heated the right way)",
-sent' dawn a high' Mandarin to congratulate the
Captain on his arrival in the ricer, this Mandarin
having passed Captain M. in his, way clown, who,'
in the mean time, had gone tip to Canton, to de-
pan(' further reparation for the insult offet.ed.to
the-King's ship.
On Tnesday, the' 2Stb January, his Majesty's
ships Alceste and Lyra sailed from iViaeao
the former having un board his Excellencvand
suite, returning from his mission from the. Court
of Pekin. On the 3:1 of February the Alceste ar-
rived ‘,
at Manilla, and the Lyra on the sth, avhen
she was sent with his Excellency's dispatches to
Bengal.
The Alceste was proceeding into the Straits of
Sunda, through the Straits of Gaspar, when she
unfortnuately struck on a coral reef, on the,morn-
ing of the 18th Februaty, and shortly filled. No
lives were lost on this occasion. The Ambassa-
dor and his suite, with some of the crew, were
immediately put on shore on the island of Polo
Leat, a short distance ft oin,the wreck.
It was decided after Lord ANIIERST'S remaining
-one night on the island, that his .Lordship and
suite should attempt to make Batavia (distant '2OO
miles) in two boats, attended by Lienternint
HOPPNER, and Messrs. MAYNE, Coox, and Ikata,
and .they arrived after four days of much fatigue
an-d hardship, from want of 'water, at Batai
His Lordship, without a moment's delay, dis-
patched the Company's cruiser Ternate, with
Mr. the Secretary of Embassy, volun-
teer, to the assistance of those left behind. She
beat against wind slid current for a consider-
able time, and at last got sight of the Island.
The party left obtained some provisions., which,
.had floated up, and by careful niati,agement,
they made shift to live there (having obtained, by
digging, some fresh water) fro'm the 18th of Fe-
bruary to the 7th of March. During this period
they were beset by tie savages of the neighbour-
ing Islands, who, after plundering and burning
the ship, blockaded the party onshore ; they, with
a Very few regular arms, kept theta at bay. Jim an
attempt to seize the remaining boats, ten of them,
one morning, were variously disposed of by Lieut.
HAY; some were shot, and others were drowned.
Their adventures in the Island were rather of a ro-
mantic and unusual cast.-7-The conduct of Capt.
Max wau., in his gen.eral.managetrient of affairs,
as well as means of defence, is spoken of in high
admiration by his Officers—it' displayed coolness
and powerful reflection, under a sudden pressure
Of difficulties and a combination of dangers attire
than sufficient to have overwhelmed an ordinitry
mind.—At Batavia, the Caesar was taken tip to
briag.,lotue his Excellency and Suite, with the
Officers and men of the Alceste ; she touched at
the Cape, St. Helena, and Aseentiou, on her way
to Englaud.,
Concerning the interior of China we have been
able to obtain but litt;e information. The people
,
.r
appear to manifest the same determined mina to
sillier no innovations, n their accustomed habits ;
but, on the contrary, they boast of not having
gone out of the beaten track of their forefathers:
they are grossly ignorant and sensual. The
country in ger.eral appeared Well cultivated.---
They have no caravans, road waggons, or
any establishment similar to our post ; conse-
quently, in the intetior, the people had not
heard of the Nepaul War, nor, indeed, did_they
appear even to know where that country %vat •
sitnate. It appears ii»possible to estimate the po-
pulation, as the people are not etiroilvd, nor has a'
census ever been. taken. But few soldiers were
seen; the greatest number of any one body did not
exceed 600. They are composed of four descrip-
tions of men, viz. Matchlorks (usually in a bad
state), Archere (.who occasionally act nisi cavalry),
Spearrnen and Tigers otKar, who are the 4inpe-
ror's body guard: tht!y are armed with a short
sword and target,
.and ene,loped in a yellow
mantle, gorgeously decorated with tigers' heads,
to render their appearance formidable. The King's
internal revenue is collected in kind,„ after the
manner of our tithes :the collecting junks, which
are said to amount to 20,000, set off' for the fur-
ther parts of
.the empire, and with the change of
the Moonson frcitu the westward,- they all return
and unload their eargdes of all species of grain
into public granaries, from whence it is sold to
the public ; this, and the customs from the ex-,
,port 'of 'their mantaactitres'at Canton, comprise
the entire source of their revenue---excepting only
,the tale of the Govertiorships,- which etnolument
goes into tine Private purse of the EmperOr.—
,03ritish Press) -

The presents exchanged by the Emperor of
Cluti,!„ and his, letter to the Prince Regent, with
Lord AmtiEßST's own documents, relating to the
.embassy, were all saved front the• wreck of the
Alceste ; but the specimens of the Geologist,
Mi-
Ateralogist, and the Botanist, were lost ; the draw.
ings of thote Gentlemen were saved. The pre-
e!its from the Emperor are said to. be of a very
trifling valise; the articles consist of purses, and.
large agatii which latter artick derives its chief
altie trout the kind, whenever discovered; being
delivered over to the Empetor, and, there ore,
Only be bestowed by him : he invariably' gives one
as a testimony of satisfaction, wilt:never' any sel"..
Nice it rendeteti to the State.

( Per Cent.
fr-,, .:•,..*c,--- :!
..:2-,,,,.•
IP- •g.l iriptft,, io
,),,, •••:L'.:-- -, ~,4,:i .
_.... ---T-,-/•.? 4
_ ____ .._ _.; •

72.2 oaX