Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1840-11-20
From the Canton Press.
THE CHINESE ARMY.

THE CHINESE ARMY.
The arms and accoutrcments of this for
midable host are Of the most simple nature.
A soldier wears an ordinary JAG ct, with a
border round it, the color of which determines
the division to which he belongs, whist the
name ofthc division is written in front and on
his back. If he can afford il he buys CATERS
and pair Of shoes and stockings, but these
are no indispensable articles of wear. In
stead Of knapsack, he only cncumbers
himself with canvass bag, into which he
puss all his valuables and provisions and
the cartridge box, a small cotton pouch, he
wears in front, so that during firing he is in
great danger of explosion, misfortune
which has happened very frequently. His
cap if he has any at all, is of longitudinal
shape, with small red tassal. The jackets
are of all possible colors-bue, red, yellow
and white: nor are they so very nice in these
distinctions as the European barbarians. The
ancient Chinese were very fond of wearing
arnor, and in modern times few of the
elite have retained the custom: it is only,
however, on occasions of great state that
they appear fully dressed. The uniform of
the cavalry does not differ from that Of the
infantry; they ride on very clumsy saddles,
and use immense stirrups without spurs. As
for the officers they wear long robes either Of
silk or fur, and their dress is distinguished
from that of the civilians solely by the en-
broidery in front and bcl,lnd of some fierce
animal like tiger, lion, or griffin. All
have ring on the thumb to assis, themin
drawing the bowling, and this may be consd-
cred as the generic badge Of the profession.
Every one of them. on occasions of site,
sings bow round his neck and 'rds
on sword, the former being the natural ON
panion Of every warrior. They delgL in
the grotcsquc, and are fond of painting igcr
heads on the gates of forts, their sidebards,
vessels, and, in fact, where place is ound
which can be garnishcd with head. Who
socvcr can procure tiger skin slices and
sits upon ii; they grind the bones, which
are imported from the southern part d Asia
in great quantities, and make jelly them,
which is a most delicious repast, whist the
greatest tt-bIt Il great officer can parakc of,
is the gall, and all this is for the SAKE of in
spring him with tigcr-likc courage They
even dress the privatcs in imitation of the
terrible animal, but in this case the; do not
use real SKINS but only dotted cloth. Such
"A corps really look formidable, and would
perhaps inspire terror to whizzing grapcshot,
if the latter could be stopped in its flight
The arms are the pike, lance, spear, half
moon with hooks and various other imple-
mrnts, double swords The bow and matchbox
Of the former there exists great variety
and they become dangerous in close en-
yagcmcnt. The swords arc badly tempered
and next to useless, yet the sons of Ham
have an advantage over all barbarians
for they fight with two. Not satisfied witt
carrying on the work Of slaughter with ON,
hand, they draw both and go on fencing iii
their antagonist is out of breath. They ar,
very grra. adopts in the use Of the bow ant
opposed to any arclcrs of the nomadic tribe
they have invariably in a drawn battle gainct
the advantage. The matchlocks are of til,
worst description, the barrel being cast ant
the tonch-hoIe very large, so that no reliance
can be placed on their hitting qualities. Til,
soldiers are avcrsc to their use on accoun
Of the many accidents that continually occur
and a brave man looks behind him whcnev-
crlc takcsaim, to p 'escrve his cycsght for
future occasion. Notwithstanding the rc;t
Grated orders Of introducing iireams gcncr
ally, the bow is still retained as principal I'm
plcment Of war. Shields, made of rattal
wicker-work, are universally in use, and a-
ford excellent protection against arrows
Soldiers do not cucumber themselves with
variety OF arms; there arc pikcmcn, swords
men, archcrs, and matchbox men, each o
whom has only one weapon, and no other
When drawnrp in full array they look tin
most motley group upon which thceye can D
set. We have heard them compared wit
military Of the middle ages; but If the knight
and their rctlincrs made as sorry an appear
ance as the warriors Of the celestial cmnirc
all the glowing DIES ciipiion of hcmlet, brcas
plate, and lance, with which the chronicles o
chivaric lore abound, seem sadly misappli
ed.
The cannons are of the most varied cal
ibrc. Some are so small that they arc car
| ried on mems shoulders, and placed on
stand whenever they are to be used. Tni
- VIZ VI VIC 1CISNliui tIiiI
The Chinese have managed to cast immcns
pieces, which would match with our forty
eight Founders, and have in fact manifold va
riations of this instrument of destruction
They do not understand how to bore them
but the body is ready cast of iron, with ma
ny pores and often honcy-combed, so tina
they frequently burst. The touchhole
moreover too large, and the whole withou
mathematical proportion, and OF course no
able to maintain well directed fire. In
stead of balls they often use stones or piece
of iron of every possible shape. They als
avail themselves of grapcshot, rockets, anc
grenadcs, which, on account OF their cums,
make, prove almost harmless.
The gong and small drum are the pr'n'
cipal instruments for encouraging the soldiers
to make an attack. The latter emitting
dcafcning noise, is well calculated TO rouse
martial ardor. They have also horns wlIch
sound like conchs, but are not frequently
blown.
The army is divided into ., 10 and 100,
and these again in battaions, camps, brigadcs
and divisions. rather different from what we