The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-08-05
Dauaiialr 6azrttE.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 lst
-. s.o.n Chinese Captivity.

tn story. an interesting and even thrilling
ono was related by Sir Henry to an Engnsn
iady and was lately given to the public as par
- no "Diarv of q Lady" We abridge soh'e-
what: I'D Elgin 10 |
The narrator had been sent by LoIe b'Ein
meet Chinese pleuipotentiaries at InhscnU~,
twelve miles from Pekin. IreacheIy wac
-1;,e,.J Ia. tho latter, and while returning,
~. H.. IA Mr. Loeb actually rode intothe
;a5Io IL battle where 10000 Chinese SOL
I;"rs had attacked I, 900 English troops. Ihey |
- seized and carried before Chinese ten
- Win as his forces were being worsteG; |
ordered his prisoners to "stop the b1t.ie,
This of course, they could not do, though 'ne!
we're stripped, ipsulted and beaten. A ,. |
some further ill-usage," said Sir Henry, ""
we're hastily thrown into carr, ana uil Nen "
arotbcr mart of the battle field, where we were |
again dragged ont and inierroGa!eu Y q d,
General. who ended his examination py gNius |
s,,,nrnsrv orders that we should at once be be- |
Lc,ded In a moment our hands we're drawn
sI,arply behind our backs, and tightly bounu
,opetber: we we were forced upon our knees
Inc executioner stood by with upliited swor1,
ready TO strike; and Loeb and hastily paue
each other FAREWELL when suddenly, a rush
nf Ayinr men came tumbling, whirling past;
upsettinC us, upsetting our executioner, sweep
;ng everything before theml We had been SO
- doatb that We were almost unDerved, be-
,yiIdcred at this sudden and most unexpected
renrieve. Once we more were flung into the cart,
which went iolting and humping acros country,
causing us terrible suffering, for with our
hands bound tightly behind our backs, beaten,
battered and bruised, we were unable to protect
ourselves, or guard against the frequent con-
cussions to which we were exposed-thahkiul
however. to have escaped thus far from that
death which we had looked so nearly IN Inc
face
'The crowd Of fugitives tooas may bel mag
ined, bore us no good Will, and constantly sur
rounded the cart, abusing and ill-treatinS us,
az il dressed slowly on, SO that every moment
we expected TO be our last. And so slowly
did we move that the gate of Pekin was not
reached until ten O'Clock at night. Under the
raie. and along the street Of Pekin We passed,
| then turned into an immense court crowded
with people and lanterns. An inscription on
| the wall was not encouraging Court oil
| Punishmenis'-( alias torture.) Here we were
left for some time, till at last l was ordered TO
descend. | entreated that we might not lie
separated, but ia vain, so once more bade
Loeb farewell. 1t was worse Tor him than Tor
me, AS he could not speak Chinese; but beg
| ccd him TO try and keep mp his spirits, for !
| would do my best to reioin him. was led
down a dark passage 10 a spot where the
ground seemed to open before me. 1t was, IN
| fact, a sort of Pit or underground room, full OF
human beings. Thrust into this, was lald
on sort Of wooden pallet about loot above
| the ground; my arms were unbound, and an
| iron band was fastened round my body, secured
| BY chains to great beam Immediately over
| head Heavy chains were placed ON both
| hands and feet, but my arms were, at least, no
| longer fastened behind me; and the relief was
So uuspeakably great that to this attribute
| the preservation Of my life.
81 suppose then became iusonsible, for
remember nothing more until, after short H.
tcrval, was again unclaimed and hauled of
to another place to he examined-a gloomy
| chamber, evidently got up for effect. There
were five judges sitting on high, surrounded
\ bv guards and officials. Several executoners,
with their assistants, stood by my side. There
we're instruments Of torture on the ground, all
designed, as l guessed, expressly TO impress
and terrifv me (for one becomes pretty sharp
under the circumstances.) They began by
examining me infinitely as to the strength OF
our forces, whose numbers ] purposely did
not diminish, giving them the whole number
Of Europeans (sutlers, camp followers, and
! all,) while they, imagining l was counting only
the number of fighting men, were obviously
very much disguised. On seeing this, l re-
marked tina: 1t would be easy for us, at very
short notice, to procure as many more troops
as we chose. They were offended at my speak
ing Of Her Majesty as the Queen Tor Soyer-
eigu) Call her Head-woman, said they.
You ought to know that there is only one
sovereign in the world, and that he IS tue Em-
pcror of China When my answers displeased
| r ,,n1-a SO
tue executiuners, who tbereupon would beat
or mallreat ne, but l noticed that it was all
done on sort Of system AT one time they
would pull out my hair and whiskers, at an.
other they would shake thumbscrew in my
facial with q view to intimidation. Pres
emily, by way of bringing the scene TO an end
thought | would simulate a fainting ut; bu
the result was SO extremely unpleasant that
did not attemptit again.
"This went on for seven days, during which
, l was repeatedly subjected 10 interrogation
My great object was 70 impress upon then
that was nobody-had no power or authority
whatever-for ! hardly knew how long m,
strength or even my reason might hold out, o
what might not he induced TO say, especial,
if they were 70 employ torture in my thel
weakened condition. At last one day the,
came and said they wished me TO write to LORI
Elgin. of course l was only too enchanted
They brought paper and pens and sat down a
close to me rs possible, scarcely leaving me
foot's space wherein to write, so that the!
might watch every stroke that was made.
! began. 'Ol stopl stop said they; the lette
be useless, for Lord Elgin will not lie able :
read it. Never mind they replied 'Ie ca
easily get an Interpreter There was nothing
/ f,r lint 10, etsbfrff ha0ap In Il nio my LOT
ter Court Of Punishment 'Stopl stopr erie
they again. That won't do at all. Youv'
been long enough in China TO know that il i
not good manners TO talk of such things a
prisons and punshmehts and the like We'll
said /, every letter must begin with dat,
and ! eau only date from the place where attn
But they did not like that at all, and desire
me simply TO say that we were well and wer
kindly treated They were evidently mos
unwilling that our friends should know :.
were in prison. Perceiving that had thu
some hold upon them, persisted in my deter
mination. no. said /, IF you like to lodg
me in palace shall be happy 10 date from
palace; but so-loBg as / am in prison l ca
only date FROM my prison. ~
The wrangle about the letter continued SON
days, Sir Henry remaining obstinate until the
permitted him 10 see Mr.. Loeb, and TO sign hi
name to the letter. In it be managed to SNUG
gle message in Hindustani. For a week
= suspense there was no answer. The prisoner
were told that their army were being "swel
from the earth" Then came formal evasiy
letter in Chinese, opening negotiations, and
box of clothes. Long the prisoners searche
for secret message, and at last, on the tail
one of the shirts sent, they found embroidere
(by Lord John Hay) the words: "Will attac
in three days. Where are you?''
eve knew that should the attack take plaC
u our lives would be in the greatest possib
danger, and two of the three days were alread
gone General Hung Chez with other funt
tionaries) came every day to visit, interrogat
or threaten US. To him we earnestly appeale
eutreating him to send mediators TO avert ii
threatened attack. You must prevent the a
tack said he But We are prisoners; We c.
do nothing-haye no powerl In vain, the
would not believe US; and the same wearison
alteration took place as bad already oecuue
again and again The first gun that is fired
said they, will be the signal for your heads
he thrown over the WALL So there we we
:. at deadlock, and could only watch and wal
Our guards had gradually got 10 be almo
on friendly terms with us, but from this M
ment they became daily more and more surl
: and we saw by the scOwling looks of all wi
a approached us that our position had change
for the worse. One day we were told abrupt
that the next would be our last! If we d
sired to write to our friends we were at liber
4 IL ,,.,e ,,.a Ial haar daily a.