The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-08-17
THE CANADA,s MAILS.
Yi1siy rpteyssfia,1 Ne,es from, cafnn-The t'of~o'
Races The Huiiny in India, dr.

rHE WAR IN CHINA.
The london Times Of August let deso'sS .is.'
columns to correspondence desIi ~" .,nr r;ver nv
tion OF Chinese war junks in the eahtoh ii'e' W
4 letter from Hong Kong says of the operations
in the Canton river 49, ,-..z,.u5 A., g. A.
,,,er1erts bat the sentiment Of our navy
has rndeTg1pe an entire change IN respect OF these
Ind harbarians. More knglishmen have been
tiiind and wounded in these two conflicts than
,,nro disabled before the walls Of Acre"
The Chinese displayed not only courage but in
,euuity aud tact in managing their war junks aud
nsing their batteries on shore. The fighting wss
# a struggling. disconnected character, and con
listed Of series OF petty but sharp encounters Be
yond, however, destroying a small feet Of war
junks and driving the Chinese from some batteries
erected to command the river, we do not gather
that the English made any decided progress to
wards bringing the Chinese to terms.
From the extended account of the second engage
quote the following:
At the part of the Fatshan Branch which they
bad now reached, there IN an island shaped like u
leg OF mutton, placed lengthway in the river. The
broad part is towards the British boats, and
The knuckle end twenty large juuks lie moored t.
tho shore and aground. The consequence of ths
position is that to attack them the British boat,
aust pass through one Of two passages, both OF
which narrow to a tunnel; and upon that narrow
neck Of water the whole fire of the twenty junk
has been staked and is impossible. The other has
not water to carry two boats abreast At this pc
siiOus passage heppel and his crew now dashed
The three buOm-b boats took the ground in attempt
ing 10 follow. The base Of this triangular islan0
;nnsists of high land which the grounded BOOM
BOATS could not fire over, their guns were use-
less the apex, Or TO use more familiar illustra-
zion. the knuckle part. was low paddy fields which
he junks guns could not sweep across. 1t was Il
position worthy Of Carthaginian-tocus 'n''du
,utUs.
Keppel was sounding with the boat-hook foI
water for the bomb boats, and went back amid th'
torn to get them up. They start afresh. ant
make another effort 10 get through. The Commo
lore pushes ahead. There was apt. Leckie III
ais galley. with Major kearney by his side. There
sas Capt. holland in the launch Of the Calcutta
,ud Lieut. Seymour in the barge Of the same ship.
he Tribune cutter was in among them. Tht
Hong Kong who had worked herself up through
he mud to within 800 yards Of the scene Of action
,ad sent her zig. Perhaps there were others buI
amid much smoke and fire. even those who wtrt
"a il cannot agree as to minute details. If th,
.unnrrs of the Excellent had been in those Chi
rse junks and had worked those 81 FOUNDER guns
hey could hardly have thrown the round shoI
-traighter. heppels galley. not large mark If
lit three times IN two minutes; 33pOunder shot
strikes Major kearuey in the breast. tearing hin.
t. pieces. lie must have died without a sensation
Young Barker. a mdshipman of the Tribune, WHIT
wore upon his finger ring bequeathed to him b!
his brother. who was killed at lnkermanD. is down
mortally wounded. The Commodores cuGswain il
HI ed, aud every man of his crew is wounded. But
the miracle is. not that the men are falling. hu,
that any escape. The God of Battles is there ami
wonderful are the instances of His merciful pro
lection Capt CochTane has the sleeve Of his coat
.orn away by a shot. which leaves him unframed
\ round shot enters the rribunes boat and passes
dong her line Of keel, from stem to stern, without
touching man. That was close, Victor" said
Keppel TO his flag lieutenant cannon shot
passed between their heads.
Fortunately for himself NictO prince Victor of
Hohenl0he. rs thorous III and unpretending British
seaman az il his name were bake or Jeryis) was
leaning forwards and using his handkerchief a
teuruiquet to stop the bleeding of a seaman whose
hand had just been shot off, otherwise that bali
must have taken Nictors head off. At this time
the galley was disabled, and she was drifting down
under the guns of the junks Even Keppel saw
that it would not do. The matter was, however.
settled for him. for the next shot tore away the
stern sheets of his galley while he WAS fortunately
standing up with the tller ropes in his hand
seymour you must take me in and he stepped
from his sinking galley into the barge of the Cal
cutta. All the other occupants of the galley were
also removed into the barge all except the manglcd
corpse of the coxswan and the favorite dog tie
Commodore, who had been accustomed to be
tended by that man. and would not leave
his body. With this freight the wreck Of the
galley drifted with the rising tide up towards the
junks.
strange shouts Of triumph, and redoubled fire
they retired to the Hong Kong. which was
aground astern; but supported by the Startling
threw shot and shell up among the junks, aud re
ceiyed from them full equivalent for their fire.
The Commodore was waiting for reniorcements
and for more water i'll the river; and meanwhile
lac piped to dinner. The men getting their
rations, and were devouring them when the fire
from the junks slackened. Three cheers for the
blue" cried IL Raleigh beat that now came up
Man the boats lads those lads are getting afioat
If they go again dinnerless, but in high spirits
and under n fire 30 hot that the CalCuttas launch
Is sunk, and Captain ROLAND had to scramble
into another boat.
This time they find water enough in the narrow
passage, and. da-hIng through the shot, and find
the enemy a1oat and in movement. 1t has
become chase. These junks, manned by from *
20 100 ruwers, go faster thar our heavy boom
boats can follow. But shTapnel she'll go faster than
even snake junk there are twistings in the creek
that are not shown i'll the chart, and i'll following
these windings pursuers and pursued often fnd
themselves side by side with interval of land he
tween them. They fire at each other across these
peninsulas, and the guns are SO well served, and
the shells are so terrifying, that every now and
then the crews leap out and the junk is deserted.
pike the guns and push on. Fix miles this hot
chase lasts and here now but eight juuks un-
captured; when rounding sharp point pursued ana
pursuers rush almost together into the city of Fat
shan
Chinese town is not seen afar Oft and the pago
CODA and the paWnbrokers warehouses are the Oh
iy high buildings. Three of the junks escape the
other five are headed and are abandoned But the
braves OF thtSiian would THINK II shame that then
ave JunkS should he taken from under their eyes
fhey turn out i'll martial array; they ring bells ana
beat SOngs; they come filing down fusse. so cove
red from view that only their waving banner and
their hrandished swords and shields are visible
w are terrible: flee before us they supposed
TO sing cry. kcppel has his own way of settling
these matters. lie turned his marines out of HI
BOATS, drew them up Oh the margin of the suburb
and poured into the Fatshan militia such yollry
Of Minnie ialls that the Chinese army went quickly
back up its tusse again.
He proposed to land his howitzers and pass III.
night i'll the city--a daring scheme which might
have produced ransom of half million of dollar,
Hr utter destruction as the fortune of war might
Incliue. A message from the admiral however. IT.
called him. lie had his five junks towpd ont before
aim, and he left the city be stood up in the stern
sheets of his boat and shook his fist good humured
~. saying, - You rascals. III come back again t.
yun soon and those extraordinary Chinese they
too. laughed-a hroad good humored grin--aud So
hey parted.
1t WAS o'clock, when Commodore Keppel re
turned To the flag ship which now anchored
where the ChiWse admiral junkS had been mooreu
At the commencement of the engagement. As he
came down, his lost dog recognized the yellow
'talcigh boat. and swan of to his master.
Not Junk was preserved. 1heir materials ar,
so intianmable that they readily ignite one an
other, and make no use of them. they
were not worth saving at the price of danger to
the men. Az 1t was, the shot from their heated
Guns rushed ahunt In ~ most unpleasant manner
At shutdown the view from the deck of the flagship
was mixture of the groteS1uc and the sublime
The boats were all adorned with barharic spOils
banners If every amplitude some Of them adorned
with colossal pictures Of the fat tod Fo. haunted
upon the breeze. Mardarns' coats and manila
rms hreezes We're freely worn. Commodore RI
il"tt crew were equipped each with mandarin
hat and foxes tails They had dntit,,ly reserved
one for the Commodore, Int | must confess | did
NOT sec hun put it on. Around. as far as the eve
could reach, following the windings Of this maze of
creeks, cighty-nipe war innks were smouIdering or
ni"2ng, AMI every five minutes an explosion shook
the air
Next morning. az we passed down the river, two
war Jnnks appeared three miles astcru, and fired Il
gun They were chasing the barbarian fleet.
THE LOCKWOOD RACES.
The European Times gives the following account
of the race for the Goodwood Cup: