490
had been constructed previously by the Chi- nese, working under the direction of an eminent Russian engineor. disguised as & Chinaman Had any curious Englishman put in an appear- ance when they were at work on this weeks before he would have been informed that they were peasantry levelling ground for cultivation and he would have gone off quite satisfied; bow- ever, none came to trouble them, hence they worked on unmolested and prepared things for us, and the guns had only to be put in place to make forts. The torpedoes and sub-marine mines were, also, soon laid.
By the evening of the 10th our forces were all landed, the entranco to Tolo Harbour was fortified, Russian' officers and crews were on board the Chinese torpedo-boats and laying at the entrance of the harbour, prepared for action. A force of 1,000 men was in possession of each .of the two principal -passes over the Kowloon hills and we had had satis- factory information that the French prepara- tions had equally succeeded and that they had landed in force on the mainland opposite Malwan (Capsuimoon) besides holding Mabwau (Capsuimoon) itself. All the Canton river- steamers had fallen into their hands and they had rnt the southern telegraph cables but were in communication themselves with the south through the Chinese lines,
During the night of the 10th a strong force from our side, Mirs Bay, together with another strong force from the French base, in the Lantao Channel, made a series of attacks on Stonecutters Island, but were repeatedly re- pulsed.
•
On the morning of the 11th the French opened fire on the shipping in Hongkong and on the town from Mahwan (Capsuimoon). The fort at West Point returned the fire, as did also the few gunboats in the harbour. The shipping soon moved out of range and so the fire was continned on the town and the West Point fort. The shells falling in the town caused several conflagrations.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
During the 13th we had to stand the con- tinued bombardment by the British warships, but found considerable, shelter at various points, so did not lose so heavily as might have been expected. Our General was an able man, as was also the French General, and the retreat was effected by sending off small detachments. The main body repulsed several sorties from the British ships. On the night of the 13th all our troops were withdrawn from the southern side of the Kowloon hills and by daylight next moruing the united French and Russian forces were on the march for Canton. The rear-guard held the enemy well in check by holding the passes in the hills till the main-body was quite clear of the neighbourhood, and then, evacuating at nightfall, marched after the main-body all night.
1
a
The Chinese, nów, finding that we were de- feated, so far.as our attack on Hongkong was concerned, thought to turncoat and join the British against us, but little they dreamt, when they began to give trouble, how completely they were in our power. The first sign of treachery on their part was that the guides no longer knew their way; the next was that sup- plies failed to come in as before. The remedy was a simple one in each case. A guide hung up to a tree refreshed the memories of the others, and when we had seized a few of the leading officials and inhabitants of the districts we passed through, and flogged them, with a promise of more if supplies were not forth- coming, we soon had more provisions than we knew what to do with. The same course was followed during the whole of the retreat, with complete success. The leading officials were always collared and had a flogging as hint of what would follow any failure on their part to supply the needful and give us a peaceful passage. The flogging was omitted where it was found unnecessary. At Canton the Tartar troops were inclined to show fight, but they were soon surrounded and disarmed. much to the delight of the other inhabitants. The French On our part the 11th was spent in massiug were left in possession of Canton, as likewise our troops in the two passes of the Kowloon the Bogue Forts. They eventually came to hills, out of gun-fire, ready to descend in force terms with the British, being allowed to take a during the night, under the direction of guides, portion of the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwang- and take possession of the Kowloon Peninsulasi, and Yuunan, and receiving also Hainan. Shortly after dusk our troops were in motion and descended. in heavy columns, the southern slopes of the hills. As we proceeded detach- ments of troops, with field guns, occupied all the points of vantage. The French, on their side, bad occupied Chin-wan, in force, there throwing out small detachments to open up communica- tions with our forces at our base in Mirs Bay, The main body of the French moved on along the shore, opposite Stonecutter's Island, arriving at Kowloon Peninsula in time for the general advance with our troops.. Before daylight the peninsula and all forts were in our bands. I will not give details of the fighting; suffice it to say that the British troops, exhausted with the previous day's work, were taken completely by surprise and were driven out at the point of the bayonet, for we did no firing, being anxious not to arouse and alarm the wearied British sentries.
Fa
When, with daylight on the 12th, the forts on Stonecutter's Island and in Hongkong re- alized what had happened, they opene a very heavy fire on us, in which they were ably sup- ported by the gunboats in harbour. The French and our ships now came into action and keeping well out of range managed to draw the fire off on themselves. The British gunners, however, soon discovered that they were wasting shot: and shelt and then redirected their fire ou us.
And now comes the tale of our defeat, for on the morning of the 13th-the night of the 12th being given up to rest both on our own part and on the part of the British, both we and they being exhausted with the continuous work of the 10th, 11th, and 12th-to our dismay wo saw a British fleet in harbour and discovered that our own ships had, as arranged, should by mischance, as was now the case, the British fleet turn up before we had taken the island, steamed off, leaving us to retreat overland. As they were all fast ships they got safely away and were not even chased by the Bristish fleet, which had by some means got wind of what was going on and was bent only on snccouring the beleaguered garrison of Hong. kong.
The British took the rest of the three provinces named, connecting with their Burmese posses. sions and completely cutting off the French from further expansion of their Eastern possessions. The French likewise gave up all claim to Siam.
As for ns, we retreated to Hankow, where We remained in possession, till by ar- rangement with the British we withdrew from the Yangtse Valley, but took the whole of North China within our dominions. Germany received Fokien and Shantung, and the British further took Chekiang and the Chusan Archi- pelago.
Thus ended our unsuccessful raid on Hong- hong. I have purposely avoided details render- in my story too long, and have not entered into the fighting which took place elsewhere, for the same reason, viz., to curtail narrative and confine myself to a narration of Hongkong was not Captured."
"How
You will of course perceive it was that wretched British fleet which spoiled the business.
Though we did not take Hongkong we des- troyed the docks and captured and sunk a large number of vessels. Our fleets captured and sunk a large number of merchant vessels.
ZAROWSKI.
GREAT EASTERN AND CALEDON IAN GOLD MINING CO.,
LIMITED.
[December 22, 1897.
down quicker, but taking it altogether this shaft is very hard to sink. We expect, however, much better country after the first 100 feet bavo been accomplished. The shaft is begin- tent; it can be easily bailed out, ning to be wet, although not to any great ex-
too.
The Zulu Main Shaft is also getting a little wet, but it can easily be bailed out Since my last report, about 14 feet have been sunk, making the total depth from windlass 72 feet. We have broken through the reef, which is dipping south, but we shall not do any driving on it before the 200 feet have been fully sunk. Moreover we shall probably ent another shoot of stone within the next few feet.
I sent two samples for assay to Sydney and the result is as per enclosed certificate as follows:- Sample of 7lbs.) 4 ozs. 9 dwt. Gold per ton from best part of reef
10 dwt, 15 grs. Silver per ton Sample of 71bs. from
1 oz. 1 dwt. 19 grs. Gold per ton part of reef...
5 dwt. 11 grs. Silver per ten
poorest
I also sent a sample of about 11lbs. weight for assay to Sydney, coming from Gold Lease 301 (newly acquired lease), the same line of reef as the Zulu. This assay yielded as per enclosed certificate:-
per ton
5 ozs. 15 dwt. 23 grs. Gold per ton 1 dwt. 10 grs. Silver None of the stone sent to Sydney of all three samples showed any free gold. Particular caro was taken to this effect and these re- sults show you the value of the mineral in the stone and the importance to erect suit. able machinery when the time for crushing arrives.
Prospecting Shaft has been timbered since my last letter and sinking has been resumed yesterday.
As the ground is now safe to work in, we expect to get on with this shaft very quickly. We shall start a second shift here probably on Monday next and as we are on the channel of a reef, we may be able to come upon it soon.
THE NEW BALMORAL GOLD MINING CO., LIMITED.
The General Managers, Messrs. John D. Humphreys & Son, have received the following report from their mining manager by steamer Yamashiro Maru :-
I have the honour to report on the aboye mine as follows:-
Queen Mine.-Main shaft, total depth 333 feet; ground harder than any met with for some may expect change shortly.
distance but it is underlying, so that we
Prospecting Shaft.- Drive south extended 14 feet, total 27 feet; no change of importarce to report.
Battery-Contractors for taking down, re- moving, and re-erecting battery are making good progress.
Balmoral Mine.-Nothing new to report. Work being confined to driving True Blue tunnel (two men only), and rue party of tributors are getting some. nice gold, but the stone is small and the ground very hard.
OLIVERS FREEHOLD MINES, LIMITED.
The General Managers, Messrs. John D. Humphreys & Son, have received the following report from their mining manager by steamer Yamashiro Maru :-
Mount Macdonald, 26th November, 1897. I have the honour to report work done since
The following report has been receivel from last report as follows :--- the Manager at the mines:-
Mount MacDonald 22nd November, 1897. The Great Eastern Main Shaft has been sunk a farther 17 feet, making the total depth from the surface 74 feet, almost all of which, within a few feet, has been timbered also. Although tight, the ground is easier to shoot now and I expect to see the first 100 feet com- pleted by the end of this year.
The Caledonian Main Shaft is now down 54 feet from the surface; the ground here is not quite so hard as before, floors are occasionally met with now, which enable the men to get
|
Enreka Mine.-Main shaft sunk 8 feet, fotal below 200 feet level 92 feet, strata passed through moderately hard and difficult to break, timbered 10 feet, total below level 82 feet,
Mining Tenement 18.-Not meeting with any. thing payable in the drive mentioned in last re- port, have suspended operations here, sufficient work having been done to secure a lease of the ground, which will be amalgamated with the other portions of the property and worked from the main shaft.
G. L. 105.-Underly shaft total depth 64 feet, Lode Channel 3 feet wide. Lode at present considerably mixed up with mallock, but doubt
E
1
Page 10Page 11