The Daily Times. — 1860-11-28 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE PROGRESS OF THE TROOPS. SEVEN MILES rnox PEKIN:, Sept. 22. An attempt has been made at negotiatio'n, which has ended in the smoke of more gunpowder, the partial deception of Lord Elgin and Mr. Parkes, and, I grieve to say, the capture of the latter by the Tartars, with the Times correspondent, Mr. Loch (Lord Elgin's private secretary), Mr. De Norman (Attache), .Captain Brabazop, of the Artillery, and the Adjutant of Fane's Horse, with 'some 20 " Sowars," and the murder 'of: a French officer. But I must, as well as my memory will. enable me, take, up my narrative . where I dropped  it on the 26th ultimo. The whole of our force were then encamped at or near the Take Forts ; now they are scattered over a space of some 80 miles, to say nothing of the 44th Regiment, who were packed off in hurry, on the 27th or 28th, to relieve Shanghai, where it appears -they were not wanted, the Royal Marines having "settled the hash " of the rebels before their arrival. It was not until the Ist instant, I think 4(unfortunately I have lost the few notes I kept), that the first move was made towards the North. This consisted in the advance of our Ist Division, which crossed the Peiho over a bridge of boats, about two miles above Tongku, and were followed on the 2nd by the 2nd Division (with the exception of a wing of the Buffs who were left to garrison the Take Forts), the French marching' along the left bank of the river. The first. halting place was about half a mile from the bridge of boats, on a plain nearly encircled by orcliardi full of grapes, peaches, apples, pears, and water-melons. The second march was to a place called Kikko, the third to Kih-tang-kou, and the fourth brought the whole army to Tien-tsin, the marches, consequently, averaging .about eight -miles each. But although they were so short, and the start was" generally made before daybreak each morning, still they were much more fatiguing than any one would imagine, as they were never finished in less than four hours, during the last two of which the heat was always very great, and to men carrying heavy packs as well as their rifles and ammunition very trying. At Tien-tsin the army halted for nearly a week on a magnificent plain immediately outside the town, living in clover in more senses than one, while the French occupied. aposition'on the left bank of the river, and an attempt was made at negotiation, which, as I have already said, has ended in smoke, the Chinese Commissioner sent down to treat with us having declared Himself afraid to sign any convention 1m his own responsibility, and almost hinting, I believe, that our best plan would be to advance upon Peki-r, and so frighten the Emperor into submissidt by a warlike demonstration at his very door. On the ,9th instant, accordingly; a force consisting of the King's 'Dragoon Guards, Fane's and Probyn's Horse, Baring's, Desborough's, and Stirling's BatterieS, the Royal Marines, the 99th Regiment, the whole under command of General Mitchell, marched past Tientsin, to a place called Pookoo, ten miles distant. On the following day they marched to Yang-tsin, eight miles further ; and the next day to Nan-tsin, eight miles further; and the next to Hoo-si-woo, when they halted for five days again, until the 2d Queen's, the 60th. Rifles, and some 2,000 French came up. Almost the whole.of the road for these last four marches was through endless fields of millet, extending as far as the eye could reach, and the camping ground at the end of each of them was nearly as comfortable as a bed of thorns, being upon half-cut beds of millet, the spikes of which were' nearly as sharp and strong, ris those surrounding the Take Forts, and had, I verily believe, been left so by the Tartars, in the hope that they would effectually prevent our advance, without any further aid from their 'prowess. So far, 'not one of them had shown his face within range since the dressing they got at Take.