The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-11-25 00:00:00

INTERESTING LETTER FROM CHINA.

We have been favoured with the following communication,
which was received yesterday by a highly-respectable house
in this town, from the chaplain of her Majesty's ship
Belleisle, off Nankin. The letter contains some interesting
particulars connected with localities which have been lately
brought much before the public, and several minutia; relating
to the individuals whose TIMMS have been frequently men-
tioned as taking part in the occurrences in question. The
few remarks resuecting the winter dress of the people are
important, and we are sorry the intelligent writer bad no
the means of furnishing more information on the subject.
"H. M. S. Belleisle, off Nankin, 1911 i Any., 1842.

" GENTLENtEs;,—You will probably remember hearing
my name mentioned by Mr. Dickinson, to whose kindness
and friendly attention I am indebted for much comfort and
happiness during the time my ship was stationed at Rio.
" A steamer leaves this to• morrow with despatches for the
Governor-General of India, which will probably anticipate
the mail by which the public despatches to England will be
forwarded about a fortnight hence. I trust a sufficient apo-
logy for the liberty I take in addressing you will be found in
the feeling that every one connected with our commercial
interests must be deeply interested in the issue of our war
with China. I cannot, however, tell you any thing on au-
thority, but I trust you will find the reports prevalent in the
squadron not without foundation or interest.
"This ship joined the squadron off Vs oosung on the 21st
June. We brought out the 98th Regiment. Woosung is an
insignificant place in itself, but it had a battery, I .believe, of
upwards of two hundred guns, partly facing the Yang-tze-
Kiang and partly the canal leading to Shanghai, a place of
great commerce. It had fallen a day or two before we joined.
We left the North Star to blockade the canal, and as soon as
our surveying ships returned from exploring the river, we
started for Tchaing-Kiang, at the entrance of the Grand
Canal. (I cannot answer for the correct spelling of the names
of places, as authors differ, and they are enough to puzzle
any one.) It was a strong walled town, and a large force of
Tartar troops were assembled outside. We took it on the
21st July. The casualties, I think, on our side were about
150, but a very great part fell from the effects of the heat.
The navy had little to do with it, why, we cannot tell, as we
could have shelled the place without losing a man, as they
had scarcely any guns. One steamer only threw a few shells.
We left some of our troops occupying it, and vessels blocka-
ding the Canal, as well here as at the entrance of it into the
Yang-tze-Kiang from Pekin. We then moved on to this
place. From the anchorage we see nothing but hills, along
the base of. which runs the city mall. The artillery and the
greater part of the troops have been landed, and are in a po-
sition to shell the city, mine the wall, and take it, while the
ships and steamers are in a position to throw shot and shell
at the Water Gate, (as the entrance from a canal is called,)
on the other side. We were all, however, very much grati-
fied yesterday by a notification from the Plenipotentiary, to
the Admiral and General, that the High Officers of the Em-
peror had acceded so far to the terms proposed as to justify
him in directing them to consider hostilities suspended. The
reported terms are the cession of the island Hong-Kong to
us as a salve for the insult offered to her Majesty's Repre-
sentative. An indemnification of 21,000,000 dollars, to be
paid by instalments, we holding certain places that have
fallen into our hands, and relinquishing them when all the
instalments are paid—trade allowed—the abolition of the
Hong monopoly—and a Resident Ambassador at Pekin. It
is said that the following 'persons are to repair on board the
flag-ship to-morrow to sign the terms (at least the names are
as near as I can get them) :—Gnu. Governor of Kien-Tu and
Kien-Le Key-Ying, uncle of the Emperor, General of Canton
Forces and Chief High Commissioner ; Elipo, Lieut-General
of Chapoo, and High Commissioner, and Gik Tartar General,
commanding at Nankin ; and the places at which we are to
trade are Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, Fou-choo-foo, and Shang-
hai. The treaty will then be sent for the ratification of the
Emperor, and we hope to get it in a fortnight. We trust,
however, more to his fears than any thing else. If lie refuses
to sign it Nankin will be a heap of ruins in three hours; and
it is generally reported that the Chinese are so exasperated
at the war having been protracted so long that in a very short
time there would be a general revolt against the Tartar dy-
nasty. We all anxiously hope the war will end, as every one
is tired of it, besides which, the squadron is very sickly. We
cannot but expect sickness in a river whose banks are all
marshy, paddy, fields; and in the autumn too, when there is
so great a decay of vegetable matter—of our own crew about
250 we have nearly severity on the sick list. The flag-ship
has considerably more than 100 out of, I think, about 700.
We have had several cases of cholera in the squadron, but
the prevalent diseases are low fevers, and ague, and dysen-
tery. I saw the commissioners on board the Flag-ship; they
certainly presented a very poor appearance, arid were very
dirty. The officers in attendance did remarkably well with-
out chop-sticks. I never saw men use a fork and spoon
more energetically ; and there were one or two who took
care to leave nothing but the smell in any bottle they got
hold of.

"22nd.—The visit of the commissioners to the Flag-ship
turns out to be only one of ceremony, which was to have
been returned to-day, but the weather has prevented it; I
suppose it will be to-morrow, and then the business meeting.
I shall give this to Commander Richards, of the Flag-ship,
who takes home the Admiralty despatches, and he will put
it in the mail-bag, so tbat when you get this you may be
assured that the treaty is signed by the Commissioners.
" August 30th.—The signing of the treaty did not take
place till yesterday. The reason assigned is, that although
no doubt existed in the mind of Sir Henry Pottinger that the
Commissioners were duly authorised to treat, yet he insisted
on their commission being signed by the Emperor himself,
showing them that his had the signature of his Sovereign on
it; that in consequence a messenger was sent off to Pekin
forthwith to get a new commission, and taking a rough draft
of the proposed terms. I believe that lam quite secure in
saying that the Emperor expressed his agreement to very
nearly every thing, and seemed highly gratified at our show-
ing him that we had more confidence in him than any one
else by requiring his signature. Poor old Hipo was obliged
to be carried along the deck of the Cornwallis: he was ex-
ceedingly ill. A Captain of a French man-of-war arrived up
just in time to see the treaty signed. The impression on the
minds of every one seems to be that this treaty is really made
in good faith—not that I think the Chinese understand
what it means as we do. I believe we shall remain here till
the ratification of the Emperor comes down: The squadron
is still very sickly.
"This is certainly a wonderful river. The distance of
Nankin from the mouth is not exactly ascertained, hut cer-
tainly notless than 200 miles ; we had 10 fathom and no bottom
a long way in our passage up to this place; and from all the
information we can collect, there is no reason for supposing
that vessels may not go up as far as Poyang Lake, certainly
more than 200 miles further. If the treaty is not ratified,
and we advance so far, we shall have cut off the trade of the
tea districts. If the treaty be ratified, and fairly carried out,
it will open a most extensive market for our manufactures.
The winters are said to be very severe, and the dress of the
people furs, which I hope very soon to hear are superseded
by our woollens; but my means of getting any sure informa-
tion on topics connected with commerce are not nearly so
ample as I could wish. _ _

I must now conclude this, as the sentry warns me that
the time for putting all lights out has arrived, but if any
thing more transpires before the mail-bag closes, I will add a
postscript.
" Believe me to remain, Gentlemen,
" Your's very truly,
"'E. S. PHELPS, Chaplain H.M.S. Belleisle."