The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-08 00:00:00

of my t

arrived off ti

sisting of t
cellency lit
Volage, Py
Malcolm,
C. Elliott,
the steame

steamer

ceived
days, t

time being agrt.e
islands in the gu
the Emend tran

supply, and returned to the anchor-
-I.igust, the day appointed, and the im-
5, and on the 30th an in-
n Elliot and Khe Shan,
who is the third man in the em-
pire, a mandarin of the first class, and red button, and ever
since (that is, up to the time of our departure from the-Pebo,
on the 15th of September) negociations have been going on,
and, from all we can hear, it is generally believed that the
plenipotentiary is to proceed to Canton to meet Khe Shan,
and then to settle affairs, if possible. A portion of the troops
remain here to hold this place until matters are finally settled.
When the interview took place, Khe Shan, the imperial Com.:
missioner, gave the party a splendid breakfast. The Chinese
government are much alarmed at our being in possession of
Chusan ; they do not like our being so near their capital, and
they will endeavour to keep us to the s.uthward. The island
of Lintao is spoken of as the place most likely where the
English will settle at, but the Chinese would prefer our not
having any settlement at all. They have offered to punish
Lin in any way the English propose. The troops are very
sickly at this place, and we are all looking out for a speedy
settlement of affairs. Captain Anstruther, of the Madras
Artillery, was out sketching a short distance frcm the city of
Chusan, and was seized by the Chinese and made prisoner;
he is now at a place called Ningpo, and well treated ; the au-
thorities at that place have sent over to say they have 20 more
prisoners, but whom they can be we cannot make out : they
say, if we give up Chusan, they will give up the prisoners. The
Alligator had a brush with them at Amoy, and returned to this
place ; the day after the affair 400 chests of opium were sold
at very high prices indeed-1184 dollars a chest, so it is
said ; the Chinese come on board the ships here to purchase,
thinking we have come here to sell opium only. and they will
have the drug at all risks; in fact, the smugglers benefit
much •• the war and they hope it may last. Supplies of all
kinds n. the eating and drinking way are in great demand.
The Indian Oak was wrecked on the Lew Chew Islands;
crew all saved. The Nimrod man of war has been sent to
bring them to this place, and is hourly expected. When at
Pe-che-lee, I went into the Peiho, or Pekin river, with the
steamer ; on our approach to the river, the forts, two miser-
able affairs, were manned with Chinese soldiers. We had a
flag of truce flying, and a mandarin beat came off to us.

♦ery well in ob

age by the
pedal chop
terview too
the imperia

'nt off to th

en Cap tai

When we anchored about a mile below the forts the whole of
the beach was crowded with thousands of the inhabitants to
see the steamer. They were quite astonished. The forts
had three old guns mounted on sand bags, but they never
expected that we should attempt to pass the bar, it being
shallow. However, we managed to cross, and can say we
are the only European vessel, and steamer, in the world that
ever was is the river leading to the capital of the Celestial
Empire. During our stay at Pe-che-lee, we had a trip to
the Great Wall of China with the admiral. The end comes
down into the sea about half a mile ! There is a fort on the
end of it with a large tower. It is one of the most stupend-
ous affairs I ever beheld. It appears about 30 feet high, and
about the same width. It has a watch-tower about every
mile on it. The land is very high in the vicinity, some of
the hills, about 3,000 feet, and the wall goes completely over
the tops of the mountains, and is seen as far as the eye can
reach. It is impossible to say anything for certain regarding
polities, but it is generally supposed the Chinese will come to