possessions at Hongkong. He also exhorted British merchants
to adopt a conciliatory treatment of the Chinese people and to
show becoming deference for the country upon the threshold of
which they were about to be established, and finally he expressed
his gratitude to the officers and men of the expeditionary force ,
to whose bravery the result now accomplished was largely due.
Immediately after the conclusion of the Treaty of Chuenpi,
the British squadron withdrew from the Bogue and moved down
to the S. W. Bay of Lantao, leaving behind H.M.S. Sumarang,
whose commander (Captain Scott), thenceforth known as
Governor of Chuenpi, was instructed to hand over to the Chinese
Authorities the demolished forts of Chuenpi and Taikok. At
the same time, H.M.S. Columbine was dispatched to Chusan,
to recall thence the remainder of the expedition.
On January 24, 1841 , Commodore Bremer, having arrived
at Lantao from Macao, directed Captain Belcher, in command
124 CHAPTER IX.
of H.M.S. Sulphur (which has given her name to the Sulphur
Channel) to proceed forthwith to Hongkong and commence
its survey. Sir E. Belcher, accordingly, landed on Monday,
January 25 , 1841 , at fifteen minutes past 8 a.m., at the foot of
Taipingshan, and on the hill, now occupied by the Chinese
recreation ground. Captain Belcher and his officers , considering
themselves the bona fide first British possessors, drank Her
Majesty's health with three cheers , the spot being thenceforth
known as Possession Point. This was done unofficially and
as an arbitrary preliminary to the survey of the Island . But
the next day (January 26 , 1841 ) , when the whole squadron
had arrived in Hongkong harbour, possession was taken of
Hongkong more formally and officially by Commodore Bremer.
On Tuesday, January 26 , 1841 , the marines from all the ships
were landed at the same place as the day before and official
possession was taken of the Island by Sir J. J. Gordon Bremer
in the name of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Commodore
Bremer was accompanied by his officers, and at the moment
when the British flag was hoisted on Possession Point, the
marines on the spot fired a feu-de-joie, whilst all the ships-of-war
in the harbour made the hills re-echo with the thunders of
the first Royal Salute ever fired in Hongkong . Sir E. Belcher
took the true position of Hongkong on a hillock, within a
stone's throw of the houses on Morrison Hill, as being in 22°
16 ' 30" N. Lat . and 114° 08 ′ 30″ E. Long. He also determined
the names and height of the principal peaks as follow, Victoria
Peak ( 1,825 feet) , High West ( 1,774 feet) , Mount Gough 1,575
feet) , Mount Kellett ( 1,131 feet ), Mount Parker ( 1,711 feet ) and
subsequently Pottinger Peak ( 1,016 feet).
It is obvious from the foregoing account of the acquisition
of Hongkong, that the actual cession was a surprise to all
concerned . Kishen had, at the last moment, reluctantly offered
to cede Hongkong, and Elliot, though accepting it, because at
the moment he could hardly do otherwise, took it unwillingly.
To the British merchants, the leaders of whom in later years
stated in a joint memorial to Lord Stanley (August 13 , 1845)
EXODUS FROM MACAO AND CESSION OF HONGKONG. 125
that such a settlement as Hongkong was never actually required
by the British merchants, ' this sudden establishment of a Colony
was as unexpected as the birth of a child into a family generally
is to the rest of the children . They could only wonder how
it had all come about , but they could not undo the fact. They
had not been consulted about it. There it was : the newborn
Colony of Hongkong. And as to the people of England - What
will they say about it at home ? ' was the anxious thought of
both Elliot and the merchants, and none could foretell with
certainty whether the new-fledged Colony would ever live to
celebrate its jubilee or indeed outlast the year of its birth .
On February 3, 1841 , ignorant as yet of the cession as a
fait accompli, the Foreign Office dispatched instructions to
Captain Elliot which seemed to him to furnish good cause for
the expectation that the establishment of a trade station at
Hongkong might eventually meet with the approval of Her
Majesty's Government . This dispatch contained the following
prophetic caution : You are authorized to propose a condition
that, if there be ceded to the British Crown an island off the
Eastern Coast of China to serve as a commercial station for
British subjects, the Chinese merchants and inhabitants of all
the towns and cities on the Coast of China shall be permitted
by the Chinese Government to come freely and without the
least hindrance and molestation to that Island for the purpose
of trading with the British subjects there established .' Un-
fortunately for Hongkong, the injunction here wisely coupled
with its probable cession was entirely neglected for years after
the cession had been accomplished . Kishen offered Hongkong
as a residence for foreigners but he did not intend it to become
the Alsatia of China.
Difficult as it may be to say, with prefect accuracy and in
a few words, how Hongkong came to be ceded to the British
Crown, this much will be clearly established by the above nar-
rative, viz. that the ordinarily current accounts of the cession
of Hongkong are inaccurate. It is evidently unjust to say,
what is commonly found stated in Continental and American
126 CHAPTER IX.
histories of British intercourse with the Far East, that the
English wanted Hongkong and they took it by force of
arms.' But that is also an unwarranted inference which the
compiler of the Colonial Year Book (1890) has drawn from
his view of the cession, by the allegation that the annexation
of Hongkong affords a remarkable example of the aptitude
of the English for grasping the requirements of any given
condition of circumstances and meeting them accordingly.'
It is to be feared, with all respect for British quickness of
perception generally, that in the present case the lesson of
the above chapter points rather in the opposite direction .
CHAPTER X.
PRE-BRITISH HISTORY OF THE ISLAND OF HONGKONG .
EOLOGICAL upheavals had felicitously formed Hongkong
of the toughest material and placed it just where the
Continent of Asia- large enough for the destinies of China,
Russia and Britain-juts out into the Pacific, as if beckoning
to the rest of the world to come on. Small as a dot in the
ocean, Hongkong was yet formed large enough for its own
destiny to act as the thin end of the wedge which shall yet
open up China to the the civilization of the West ; to form
Britain's Key to the East, as the combined Malta and Gibraltar
of the Pacific ; to be China's guarantee of British support along
the strategic line formed by India, the Straits Settlements and
the China Sea.
Previous to its cession to the British Crown, the Island of
Hongkong was too little known to be accorded special notice
either in the Annals or in the Topographies of the Chinese
Empire, to which it belonged .
Hongkong, and the opposite portion of the mainland of
China, known as the Peninsula of Kowloon, together with
the few tiny islets situated close inshore ( Kellett Island, Stone-
cutter's Island, Green Island , Tree Island, Aberdeen Island,
Middle Island, and Round Island), all of which are at the
present day comprised within the boundaries of the Colony,
formed, since time immemorial, a portion of the Kwangtung
(Canton) Province. The Island of Hongkong (covering an
area of about 29 square miles ) is situated, 76 miles S.E. of
Canton, near the mouth of the Pearl River, the eastern banks
of which are lined by the Tungkoon District (24 miles S.E. of
Canton city) and the Sanon District ( 52 miles S.E. of Canton
city) , of which the Kowloon Peninsula and Kowloon City
128 CHAPTER X.
Promontory from the south-eastern extremities, whilst Hongkong
is separated from Kowloon Peninsula by a channel of one
nautical mile in width.
For many centuries Hongkong formed a part of the
Tungkoon District, but when the eastern half of the latter was
constituted a separate District, called Sanon, the territory now
included in the British Colony of Hongkong came under the
jurisdiction of the Sanon Magistrate who resides in a walled
town on the Canton River called Namtau (or Sanon), and who
has under his direction a Sub-Magistrate residing at Kowloon
city, a small fortified town, situated close to the British frontier,
in the north- eastern corner of Kowloon Peninsula. The land-
register, however, which forms the Domesday Book for the few
arable and vegetable fields possessed by the Colony remained all
along at Tungkoon. Thence used to issue from time to time
the tax-gatherers to dun the villagers for the payment of the
grain tax and to worry them into taking out licences for ground
newly brought under cultivation .
The fishing grounds also, all along the coast of Hongkong
and Kowloon, were parcelled out, under special licences for
which the Sanon Magistrate's underlings used to collect annual
fees. The waters of Hongkong, with the beautiful, roomy and
almost land-locked harbour, enclosed on the North by the
Peninsula of Kowloon and its eastern Promontory, and in
the South by the Island of Hongkong with its several bays,
were under the special supervision of the Marine Constabulary
Station of Taipang, a walled town in the north-eastern portion
of Mirs Bay, some 30 miles to the North-east of Kowloon city.
But when the Colony became British, the head-quarters of the
Colonel in command of the Marine Constabulary stations of
Taipang and Kowloon were removed to the citadel of Kowloon
city.
The above-mentioned administrative and executive arrange-
ments date back, in their present form, no farther than the
commencement of the present Tatsing (Manchu) Dynasty and
notably to the reign of the enlightened Emperor Kanghi (A.D.
PRE-BRITISH HISTORY OF HONGKONG. 129
1662 to 1722 ) , who took quite an exceptional position in that
he positively encouraged foreigners to come to his Court and
systematically favoured foreign trade. During his reign the
water-ways of Hongkong which, with the Kap-shui - moon and
Sulphur channels in the West, and the Ly-ee-moon pass in the
East, formed all along the natural highway of commerce, con-
necting Canton and the South-west coast with the ports of
Swatow, Amoy, Foochow and Shanghai on the East coast
of China, rose into commercial importance.
As to the history of Hongkong previous to the rise of the
Tatsing Dynasty (A.D. 1644) very little is known .
There is, however, on the Kowloon peninsula, and within
British territory, an ancient rock inscription, on a large loose-
lying granite boulder, which crowns the summit of a circular
hill, jutting out into the sea, close to the village of Matauchung,
directly West of Kowloon city. This inscription, consisting of
three Chinese characters (Sung Wong Tong, lit. Hall of a
King of the Sung) arranged horizontally, was originally cut
about half an inch deep in the northern face of the boulder. The
Chinese Government believe it to be a genuine inscription , about
600 years old . The original characters, having become nearly
effaced in course of time, were renewed at the beginning of the
present century ( 1897 ) by order of the Viceroy of Canton, the
date of this restoration being recorded by a separate inscription
the characters of which are arranged perpendicularly. The memo-
ries attaching to this inscription and to the whole hill, which still
shows the outlines of the original entrenchments, are so sacred
in the eyes of Chinese officials and literati , that excavations
and quarrying were prohibited in that locality under the severest
penalties. When the Peninsula was leased and subsequently
ceded to the British Crown, the Chinese Government specially
stipulated that the rock inscription and the whole hill should
remain untouched . Nevertheless, quarrying has occasionally been
attempted there since the locality came into British possession.
Chinese history states that, when the Sung Dynasty was
overturned by the invasion of the Mongols under Kublai Khan ,
9
130 CHAPTER X.
who subsequently seated himself on the throne of China
(A.D. 1280) , the last Emperor of the Sung Dynasty, then a
young child, was driven with the Imperial Court to the South
of China and finally compelled to take refuge on board ship,
when he continued his flight, accompanied by a small fleet.
Coasting along from Foochow, past Amoy and Swatow, he passed
(about 1278 A.D.) through the Ly-ee-moon into the waters of
Hongkong. After a short stay on Kowloon Peninsula, he sailed
westwards until he reached Ngaishan, at the mouth of the West
River (South-west of Macao). But meanwhile the Mongols
had taken possession of Canton and hastily organized a fleet
with which they hemmed in the Imperial flotilla on all sides.
The Prime Minister (Luk Sau-fu) , seeing all was lost, took the
youthful Emperor on his back, jumped into the sca (A.D. 1279)
and perished together with him.
Within a few months previous to this event, the Imperial
Court had rested for a while in the little bay of Kowloon, called
Matauchung. Tradition says that Kowloon city and the present
hamlets of Matauchung and Matauwai were not in existence at
the time, and that the Imperial troops were encamped for a time
on the hill now marked by the inscription , whilst the Court were
lodged in a roughly constructed wooden palace erected at a short
distance from the beach, on the other side of Matauchung creek,
at a place now marked by a temple. There, it is said, the last
Emperor of the Sung resided for a while, on ground now British
and in sight of Hongkong, waiting for news from Canton
concerning the movements of the Mongols, and hoping in vain
to receive succour from that treacherous city.
Tradition further states that, ever since the downfall of the
Sung (A.D. 1279) and all through the reign of the Mongol Yuen
Dynasty (A.D. 1280 to 1333 ) , Hongkong was a haunt of pirates.
The bay of Shaukiwan (close to the Ly-ee-moon pass) and the
bay of Aberdeen (close to the Lamma channel) were specially
dreaded by peaceful traders, because piratical craft used to issue
thence plundering or levying black-mail on passing junks . These
pirates, it is said, were generally engaged in fishing whilst men
PRE-BRITISH HISTORY OF HONGKONG. 131
stationed on the hill tops kept a look-out for merchant vessels .
The descendants of these piratical fishermen gave, in subsequent
years, an endless deal of trouble to the British Government . It
was this piratical predisposition of the fishermen residing in the
neighbourhood of Hongkong that had caused the early Portuguese
navigators to give these Islands the general name Ladrones.
During the reign of the native Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1468
to 1628), a period of comparative peace and order ensued whilst
the fishing vessels of Shaukiwan and Aberdeen confined their
depredations to the regular levy of a small fee, willingly paid
by junks benefitting by the short cut afforded by the Ly-ee-
moon and Lamma channels or by the safe anchorage which
some of the bays of Hongkong provided in case of an approaching
typhoon. Both the Peninsula of Kowloon and the Island of
Hongkong now began to be peopled by peaceful and industrious
settlers from the neighbouring Tungkoon District . The town
of Kowloon was formed about this time by settlers speaking the
Cantonese dialect, called Puntis (lit. aborigines). These Puntis ,
after denuding the hill sides of all available timber or firewood,
took possession of all arable ground to be found on the territory
now British , and took out licenses for such fields from the
Tungkoon Magistracy. Thus the hamlets of Matauwai (near
Kowloon city) with Kwantailou (Eastpoint) and Wongnaichung
(on the Island of Hongkong) were among the first to be formed ,
and to them were added later on the hamlets of Sookonpou
(Bowring-town) , Tanglungchau and Pokfulam. Some of the
fishing villages, Chikchü (Stanley) , Shekou (between Cape
Collinson and Cape D'Aguilar), and Yaumati (on Kowloon
Peninsula) now rose also into importance. Among the people
then residing on Hongkong a number of families of the Tong
clan held all the best pieces of ground and the members of this
Tong clan looked upon themselves as the owners of Hongkong.
Some time, however, after the Puntis had occupied the best
portions of Kowloon and Hongkong, settlers from the North-east
of the Canton Province, speaking a different dialect, called
Hakkas (lit. strangers) , began to push their way in between Punti
132 CHAPTER X.
settlements . These Hakkas cut the grass from the hill sides for
fuel, made charcoal as long as there was any timber left, formed
vegetable fields on hilly or swampy ground neglected by the
Puntis, started granite quarries, or worked in the Punti villages
as blacksmiths or barbers. Thus the Hakka villages of Mongkok,
Tsopaitsai, Tsimshatsui and Matauchung were formed on Kowloon
Peninsula, and on Hongkong Island the hamlets of Hungheunglou,
Tunglowan, Taitamtuk, Shaiwan, Hoktsui, Wongmakok, and
Little Hongkong. Similar hamlets were formed by the Hakkas
at the quarries of Taikoktsui, Hokün, and Tokwawan on Kowloon,
and at the quarries of Tsattsimui, Shuitsingwan, Wongkoktsui,
and Akungngam on the Island of Hongkong.
Thus it happened that, ever since the Ming Dynasty, two
distinct tribes of Chinese, differing from each other in language,
customs and manners, formed the native population of Hongkong
and Kowloon. As a rule, the Puntis were more intelligent, active
and cunning, and became the dominant race, whilst the
Hakkas, good-natured, industrious and honest, served as hewers
of wood and stone and drawers of water. But from the first
advent of the British and all through the wars with China,
the Puntis as a rule were the enemies and the Hakkas the
friends, purveyors, commissariat and transport coolies of the
foreigners, whilst the fishing population provided boatmen
and pilots for the foreign trade.
Later on, a third class of natives, speaking another dialect
(Tiehchiu, or Swatow dialect) , settled at Shaukiwan, Tokwawan,
Hunghom and Yaumati . These people, generally called Hoklos ,
were all seafaring men, bolder in character than either Hakkas
or Puntis, and specially addicted to smuggling and piracy.
Among all the pirates on the coast, these Hoklos were most
dreaded on account of their ferocious and daring deeds. In
later years, these Hoklos supplied the crews of nearly all the
salt smuggling and opium smuggling boats, the terror of the
Chinese revenue cruizers.
After the downfall of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1628) , the
scattered remnants of the Ming army, still hoping to retrieve the
PRE-BRITISH HISTORY OF HONGKONG. 133
fortunes of the Ming and to expel the Tsing (Manchus), took
refuge on the Island of Hongkong (about A.D. 1650) . Thereupon
the Emperor Kanghi issued an Edict, cancelling all leases issued
for Hongkong and calling upon all loyal subjects of the Tatsing
Dynasty to withdraw themselves and all supplies of provisions.
from the Island, until all the rebels who had taken refuge
there were starved out and exterminated . All the agricultural
settlers, Puntis and Hakkas left Hongkong forthwith - an exodus
which, in the history of British Hongkong, was repeated several
times -until the rebels had been dislodged and order restored,
when they returned and had their licenses renewed.
Chinese tradition has nothing further to say of Hongkong,
except that , at the beginning of the present century ( A.D. 1806
to 1810 ) , the present Victoria Peak (1,774 feet high) formed
the look-out and the fortified head-quarters of a pirate, named
Chang Pao, famous in popular local history for his daring
exploits until, having conquered several districts bordering
on the Canton River, he was bought over by the Viceroy of
Canton and entered his service.
As to the name of Hongkong, the Chinese are not in
the habit of naming an island, as a whole, apart from any
prominent place or feature of it . Previous to the cession of
Hongkong, there was no term in existence designating the Island
of Hongkong as a whole. The principal port on the South
of the Island , now known as the port of Aberdeen, was always
known among Puntis, and fishermen especially, as Heung-kong
(lit. port of fragrance) and is so known among the natives
generally to the present day when referring to the anchorage
as distinct from the village of Shekpaiwan (Aberdeen village)
and the village of Aplichau (Aberdeen Island) . The Hakka
village of Heung-kongtsai (Little Hongkong) is situated two
miles farther inland. The stream which, by a pretty little
waterfall, falls into the sea at Aberdeen village (at the present
paper mill) , has nothing to do with the native term Hongkong,
but it attracted European vessels which used to replenish their
empty water-casks there. These European mariners, mistaking
134 CHAPTER X.
the name of the anchorage for that of the whole Island, marked
the Island of Hongkong on their charts accordingly, and in
subsequent years, on the occasion of the Treaties of Chuenpi
(A.D. 1841 ) and Nanking (A.D. 1843) , the term ' Hong Kong '
was adopted as a designation of the whole Island and thus
passed into general use, both among foreigners and natives,
and finally the term ' Hongkong ' was used as a designation of the
whole Colony (including Kowloon) .
Along the northern shore of Island there used to be,
previous to the British occupation, a narrow bridlepath leading,
high above the beach, across rocks and boulders, all the way
from Westpoint to a hamlet near Eastpoint called Kwantailou,
described in the first census (May 15 , 1841 ) as a fishing village
with 50 inhabitants. This path was used by the crews of trading
junks, in cases of wind and tide being unfavourable, to track
the junks along by a towing line attached to the peak of the
foremast. Now this hard- trodden path standing, to an observer
from the opposite shore, clear out from the grass-grown hillside,
like a fringe or border along the skirts of the hill, was by the
natives called Kwantailou (lit. petticoat string road), and the
hamlet at which this path ended was naturally called by this
same name. But among the Hakkas, the Island of Hongkong,
or rather this northern portion of it, is to the present day called
by the same name Kiuntailon .
The name of the Kowloon peninsula, which covers an area
of four square miles, is derived from a series of nine peaks or
ridges (Kau-lung, lit. nine dragons) which form the northern
background of the panorama spread out before an observer
standing on the northern slope of the Island of Hongkong.
After these nine dragons, both the city of Kowloon (which is
in Chinese territory ) and the Peninsula of Kowloon (ceded to
Great Britain in 1861 ) are named .
Previous to the British occupation of Hongkong, the
population of it probably never exceeded, at any one time, a
total of 2,000 people, including Puntis, Hakkas and Hoklos,
whether ashore or afloat.
CHAPTER XI .
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG,
1841 to 1843.
BEFORE entering now upon the modern history of Hongkong,
it is necessary briefly to sketch first of all the history of
those political events which , directly connected with the Treaty
of Chuenpi, and of the cession of Hongkong, brought about
eventually the confirmation of the cession by the Treaty of
Nanking (August 29 , 18 ) . For the latter, though not
alluding to any previous cession , was virtually but a ratification
of the action taken by the representatives of the British
Government in taking possession of Hongkong (January 26,
1841 ) under the Treaty of Chuenpi.
Up to the day when the Island of Hongkong was taken
possession of, the Imperial Commissioner Kishen appears to have
acted in perfect good faith, honestly determined to make peace
and to abide by the promises he had made at Tientsin , and by
the purport of the truce concluded by Eleepoo at Chusan and
confirmed by his own Treaty of Chuenpi. But on the day
when Sir J. J. Gordon Bremer took possession of Hongkong
(January 26 , 1841 ) , believing, with Elliot, that an era of peace
was now being inaugurated, Kishen received an Imperial Edict
which virtually nullified the Tientsin promises, the Chusan truce
and the Chuenpi Treaty, and indicated a complete reversal of
that policy which had been initiated by the Emperor whilst
the British fleet threatened Tientsin and Peking, The force of
Lord Palmerston's arguments, as set forth in his dispatch, was
in the fleet which presented the dispatch and not in the text
of the latter. The order which Kishen now (January 26 , 1841 )
136 CHAPTER XI.
received was, ' Let a large body of troops be assembled and
let an awful display of celestial vengeance be made.'
With these orders in his pocket, Kishen went down next
day (January 27 , 1841 ) to the Second Bar Pagoda where, with
beaming countenance and a pleasant smile on his lips, he held
a levée and entertained Elliot and a select company of British
officers at lunch, pretending the utmost cordiality and the
frankest determination to carry ont the stipulations of the Treaty
of Chnenpi. Elliot and the British officers were all completely
deceived. Whilst Kishen were pleasantly chatting with his guests
near the Bogue, another Edict issued at Peking, in which the
Emperor, referring to the proposed cession of a port , stated that
a glance at these memorials filled him with indignation and grief,
that Kishen had deceived him by soliciting as an Imperial favour
what the barbarians demanded by force. One more chance was,
however, given to Kishen, to amend his craven conduct, by
driving off and destroying those foreigners : Let him proceed
immediately to take command of all the officers and subalterns
and lead them on to the extermination of these barbarians ,
thus hoping to atone for and save himself.' Other Edicts were
issued within the next few days ordering the immediate recapture
of Chusan, and the dispatch of picked veteran soldiers from
Hupeh, Sszechnen and Kweichou to Canton. Three special
Commissioners (Yikshan, Lung Wan and Yang Fang) were
ordered to proceed to Canton to organize and superintend a war
of unconditional extermination . No question of opium was now
raised. The hateful brood of barbarians ' were to be destroyed,
one and all, by any means, foul or fair.
On the day when one of these Edicts was issued at Peking
(January 30, 1841 ) and dispatched so as to reach Kishen in
12 days, Elliot issued a circular to Her Majesty's subjects in
China stating that negotiations with the Imperial Commission
proceed satisfactorily. ' However, when Elliot had his next
interview with Kishen (February 13, 1841 ) , he had heard a
whisper of the contents of the Edict which had reached Kishen
two days before ( February 11 , 1841 ) and put a few searching
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 137
questions to him. Meeting with evasive answers, Elliot found
his worst suspicions confirmed , and prepared once more for war .
Five days later (February 18, 1841 ) the Chinese themselves
commenced hostilities by firing on a boat of the armed steamer
Nemesis from a fort on Wangtong island. Next day the British
squadron began to assemble at the Bogue. Kishen having
formally declined to carry out the stipulations of the Chuenpi
Treaty, war was declared, and the Cantonese Authorities com-
menced it by the issue of proclamations offering $50,000 for
Elliot or any other rebellious ringleader ' (February 25 , 1841 ) .
A landing having been effected by the English, beyond
the reach of the Chinese guns, on South-Wangtong (February 25,
1841 ) , a battery was erected there during the night, and at
daybreak (February 26, 1841 ) commenced the Third Battle of
the Bogue, by an attack on the batteries of North- Wangtong and
Aneunghoi. In the space of a few hours the Chinese positions
were carried, 300 guns spiked, 1,000 prisoners made in the forts,
and about 250 Chinese killed and 102 wounded. Admiral Kwan,
the descendant of the god of war, was among the killed . After
compelling the prisoners to bury the dead, the victors allowed
them all to depart in peace. Next day ( February 27 , 1841 ) the
fleet proceeded to attack an entrenched camp, situated on the left
bank of the river, just below Whampoa . It was defended by 100
pieces of artillery and garrisoned by 2,000 men of the élite of
the Hunan troops, who offered a brave and determined resistance
in a hand to hand fight . But British discipline and pluck
scattered them and the camp was carried. An old British ship
(Cambridge) which the Chinese had purchased under the name
Chesapeake, and fitted out as a frigate, was also captured and
blown up, after great slaughter.
As the troops advanced beyond Whampoa, destroying
battery after battery, the European merchant ships came up to
Whampoa apace and resumed trade on the day (March 1 , 1841 )
when the fleet , by carrying the enemy's works at Liptak and
Eshamei, approached Canton city. Major- General Sir Hugh
Gough, having arrived ( March 2 , 1841 ) , took command of the
138 CHAPTER XI.
land forces, whilst Captain the Hon . Le Fleming Senhouse
commanded the fleet as Senior Naval Officer, in the absence of
Commodore Bremer. A masked battery on the N.E. end of
Whampoa Island was carried (March 2, 1841 ) and when
Liptak ( Howqua's Folly) was occupied (March 3, 1841 ) by
the advanced squadron, the Acting Prefect of Canton city (Yue
Pao-shun) came with a flag of truce, begging for a suspension
of hostilities for three days. Negotiations commenced but
came to nothing. The armistice having expired at 11 a.m. on
March 6 , 1841 , the works in advance of Howqua's Folly were
captured at once. Elliot, seeing the city in the power of the
fleet anchored close to its southern frontage, assumed that all
opposition was now subdued, and issued forthwith a proclamation
to the people ( March 6, 1841 ) stating that the Emperor's bad
advisers were responsible for the proceedings, that the war was
with the Chinese Government, and that the people and the city
would be spared, if trade were quietly resumed without further
opposition.
Trade indeed did flourish all through this month in spite
of the hostilities between the troops, the war being so far only
a contest between the naval and military forces of the two
countries. But the Chinese officials secretly continued their
policy of extermination without flinching. Kishen was arrested
by Imperial orders, loaded with chains and thus carried off from
Canton (March 12 , 1841 ) to be tried in Peking . On the same
day, the first merchant ship, since the raising of the blockade,
left Whampoa with a full cargo. Business continued to increase
there steadily.
Observing, however, active preparations for a resumption of
hostilities in the S.W. of Canton city, the British commanders
resumed hostilities (March 13, 1841 ) , when seven batteries, ob-
structing the inner passage (Taiwong-kau) from Macao to Canton,
being armed with 105 cannons, were captured by the armed
steamer Nemesis (Captain Hall) , and the fort in the Macao
passage, near Canton, was captured by H.M.S. Calliope (Captain
Herbert) . A lull of quiet now ensued and lasted for a few days.
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 139
But on March 16 , 1841 , a flag of truce having been fired
upon by the Chinese, the enemy's works on Fatee and Dutch
Folly were attacked and captured and a large flotilla of war
junks was destroyed. By this action the western as well as
the southern portions of Canton city were brought under the
guns of the squadron. The factories also were occupied by
British troops (March 18, 1841 ) and the whole city was now
at the mercy of Captain Elliot . But for the second time the
city was spared , without a ransom, on condition that the hostile
preparations should be discontinued and trade resumed. One of
the newly appointed Special Imperial Commissioners, Yang Fang,
who, to the chagrin of the Emperor, had boldly recommended
that a haven for stowage should be allowed to the foreigners,'
had already arrived in Canton . He now concluded with Elliot
a formal Convention (March 30, 1841 ) . The terms of this
Convention were, ( 1 ) that the British ships of war remain
near the factories, (2 ) that the Chinese discontinue further
preparations for war, (3 ) that foreign merchants may at once
return to the factories and that foreign ships may continue the
legitimate trade at Whampao, paying the usual port charges
and other duties to the Chinese Government. Yang Fang and
the Viceroy (Eliang ) issued forthwith a joint proclamation
stating that Elliot had assured them that all he wanted was
trade and nothing else.' Accordingly they exhorted the people,
by all means to continue trading with foreigners without fear.
At the same time the two officials reported to the Emperor,
that Elliot, in saying all he wanted was trade and nothing else,
had renounced his claim to Hongkong as well as his former
demand of an indemnity for the opium surrendered to Lin ,
and that the British fleet would retire from Canton as soon
as an Imperial Decree authorizing resumption of trade with
the barbarians was received .
Things now appeared to go on quietly. The Chinese officials ,
however, continued their warlike preparations, and secretly stirred
up the people to join in the war of extermination . The
continuance of the trade kept them in funds. So the foundries
140 CHAPTER XI.
at Fatshan were working day and night, casting new cannons
and turning out, under foreign superintendence, a number of
five-ton guns, which were forthwith placed in position for an
attack on the British fleet, but, in the absence of proper gun
carriages, in a manner which left the guns unworkable . Masked
batteries were also erected on the sly along the river front,
and new fleets of war-junks and fire-ships were collected in the
creeks connecting Fatshan with Canton.
Meanwhile, however, trade continued briskly as if all were
peace, although a Mr. Field and two young officers of H.M.S.
Blenheim were assassinated (March 26, 1841 ) on their way to
Macao. Elliot himself took up once more his residence in the
factories (April 5 , 1841 ) where he had been a prisoner but a
year before. He did so partly to disarm suspicion as to the
good intentions of the English and partly to keep himself
informed of what was going on in Canton city, where Lin was
still residing as adviser of the Commissioners who were daily
expected . As soon as Yikshan, the Chief of the Commission,
arrived in Canton ( April 14, 1841 ) , together with Lung Wan,
the second Commissioner, and the new Viceroy, Kikung, a
secret conclave was held between them and Yang Fang, the
third Commissioner, and Lin. They all agreed that Canton
was defenceless , that there were not sufficient troops to dislodge
the British from their present position , and that therefore they
should all make a show of friendly relations until the British
forces had left Canton, as they intended doing, to prosecute the
war in the North, but that, as soon as the expedition had left,
they would block up with piles and stone junks every single
outlet of the Canton River and re-build every fort, ready to
assume the offensive once more.
This scheme they confidentially reported forthwith to the
Emperor. But Elliot, who generally had good information,
heard something of this plan (May 14, 1841 ) and at once
ordered the expedition, which was to have started for Amoy
and Ningpo the next day ( May 15 , 1841 ) , to be postponed
indefinitely. H.M.S. Columbine also had brought news (May 10,
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG, 141
1841 ) that Eleepoo had, like Kishen, fallen into disgrace, and
that Yuekien, one of the most violent enemies of the English,
had replaced him as Imperial Commissioner at Ningpo.
Elliot was waiting for the Chinese to strike the first blow.
But when he found that the Shameen battery, which had been
carried and dismantled in March, was about to be re-armed,
he called upon the Cantonese Authorities to stop this and every
other warlike movement at once. Finding that they evaded
his demands, Captain Elliot forthwith (May 17 , 1841 ) sent
for troops from Hongkong. Next day (Mar 18 , 1841 ) , the
British forces (consisting of 2,600 combatants ) started from
Hongkong for Canton, leaving but a small portion of the 37th
Madras Native Infantry to protect the settlement at Hongkong.
The Cantonese Authorities meanwhile continued to pretend
friendly feelings, whilst heavy masses of picked troops from
other provinces were daily pouring into the city. To mislead
Elliot and the foreign merchants, the Acting Prefect issued
(May 20, 1841 ) a proclamation urging the people, who were
leaving the city in large numbers in dread of the approaching
conflict, to remain quiet in their lawful pursuits and to continue
trade with foreigners without alarm or suspicion. Unbeknown
to Yang Fang, who as an experienced soldier knew the strength
of the British forces and accordingly counselled patience, Yikshan
made secret arrangements for a simultaneous night-attack on the
British fleet , by means of fire-ships. Elliot received information
of the proposed movement and immediately issued a circular
(March- 21 , 1841 ) warning Her Majesty's subjects and all other
foreign merchants in the factories to retire from Canton before
sunset . At 11 p.m. the attack commenced from the western
fort (Saipaotoi) near Shameen , where a new five-ton gun had
been mounted. A series of fire-boats came suddenly, with the
tide, down upon the British ships. The crews of these fire-ships
carried stink-pots and fire-balls and were armed with long
boarding pikes. The moment the first of these fire-ships were
hailed and fired into by the British sentries, the Chinese forts
and masked batteries along the river front opened fire on the
142 CHAPTER XI.
British ships anchored in the river and the Hunan and Szechuen
troops attacked the untenanted factories and plundered them.
Yang Fang only heard of the attack when it had commenced.
He stamped and swore, but it was too late. The attack entirely
miscarried, because the British ships were all on the alert and
prepared for it. They immediately poured shot and shell into
the fire-ships, the moment they came within easy range, and
ther turned their guns on the batteries which were speedily
silenced. Next morning all the Chinese batteries within range
of the ships were carried by assault and a flotilla of over 100
war-junks and fire-ships was captured and burned ( May 22,
1841 ) . The next two days the British forces prepared for a
concerted attack on Canton city. On May 24, 1841 , after firing
a royal salute in honour of Her Majesty's birthday, the afternoon
was spent in collecting large numbers of barges for the transport
of the troops in shallow water, in replying to occasional shots
fired from masked batteries in the suburbs, and in moving troops
to their appointed stations. In the evening, nearly 2,000 men
were conveyed in large covered barges, collected by Captain
Belcher, up the northern branch of the river from Shameen
towards the North-west gate of the city. After landing, near
the village of Tsinghoi , the guns and artillery during the night,
and reconnoitring the neighbourhood at daybreak, a start was
made, under the command of Major- General Burrell, at 9 a.m.
(May 25, 1841 ) . The troops marched across the swampy
paddy-fields in the direction of the North-west gate, driving
the village volunteers before them, attacked and carried at the
point of the bayonet the four outlying forts outside that and the
North gate, and took by assault, though not without considerable
loss of men and officers, a strongly entrenched camp which was
protected by the guns on the city walls. At the same time an
attack was made on the southern suburbs. Major Pratt, with
the Cameronians, took possession of the factories, whilst the
ships in the river bombarded the Tartar General's head-quarters.
Yikshan and Yang Fang were entirely disconcerted by these
movements. They had not expected the city to be attacked in
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 143
the North-west, where its fortifications were strongest, but had
prepared for an assault in the South and especially in the East.
The bombardment also caused a great panic in the city, while
the Chinese five-ton guns could not be brought to bear upon
the British ships so as to reply to their fire.
The following day (May 26, 1841 ) the rain poured down
in torrents and put almost a stop to the movements of both
sides. The British troops were waiting for fresh supplies of
guns and ammunition, but before nightfall all preparations for
the assault of the city walls were completed and fifteen pieces
of artillery in position before the northern gates . Next morning
(May 27, 1841 ) , at the very moment when the attack was
going to be sounded, a sudden stop was put to the movement
of the troops, to their intense disappointment. The news came
that Elliot had concluded a treaty of peace. This Treaty of
Canton, arranged between Elliot, Yikshan and Kikung (May
27, 1841 ) was based on the following stipulations, viz . ( 1 ) that
the Tartar troops and the braves from the other provinces
(between whom and the volunteers there was a deadly feud),
amounting to about 35,000 men, should immediately evacuate
the city without display of banners ; (2 ) that the Imperial
Commissioners should leave the city within six days and proceed
to a distance of at least 60 miles ; (3) that the British forces
would not leave Canton nor retire beyond the Bogue, until the
following payments had been made, viz . $ 6,000,000 as a ransom
of the city to be paid within one week, $ 300,000 compensation
for the pillage of the factories, $ 10,000 for Mr. Moss and the
other sufferers by the attack on the British schooner Black
Joke, and $25,000 for the owners of the Spanish brig Bilbaino ;
(4) that a promise be given, not to re-arm any of the fortified
places at the Bogue or inside the river, and to stop all further
warlike preparations until affairs should be settled between the
two nations ; (5 ) that trade should at once be resumed at Canton
and Whampoa .
It will be noticed that Elliot did not expressly include
among the stipulations of this Treaty either the confirmation
144 CHAPTER XI.
of the cession of Hongkong (which, he no doubt supposed,
required no further confirmation) , or compensation for the opium
.
surrendered to Lin (which he considered settled by his drafts
on the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury) . As to a war
indemnity, he no doubt reserved that for the reckoning yet to
be made with the Imperial Government, the real instigators of
the war . The Manchu Annals incorrectly state that Elliot
demanded and obtained the opium money ' in addition to a
' war indemnity,' and make the further doubtful assertion that
Elliot first proposed to Yikshan to exchange Tsimshatsui and
Kowloon for the Island of Hongkong, but that, when Yikshan
pointed out that the Emperor had not yet been invited to agree
to the cession of Hongkong, Elliot consented to let the question
of Hongkong stand over for discussion (with the Imperial
Government) . The Annalist accordingly blames the Commis-
sioners for omitting, in their reports to the Throne, all reference
to the payment of the opium indemnity and to the cession of
Hongkong.
The advantages gained by this ten days' campaign and the
consequent Treaty of Canton were very great. The removal
from the scene of those troops which alone had stood the British
fire, and which had drawn upon themselves the ill- feeling of
the Cantonese so as to cause danger of civil war in the city,
was a decided advantage. The expulsion of the Imperial
Commissioners, who had been the prime movers in all hostilities,
was calculated to make them comparatively harmless , while the
temporary crippling of the provincial exchequer deprived them,
at least for a time, of the sinews of war. But the greatest
advantage gained by the Canton Treaty was the speedy
termination of the campaign which, within a few weeks after
the first blow was struck, set the British troops free, just when
the summer was coming on, to operate in the North .
On the day after the conclusion of peace (May 28, 1841 ) ,
it happened that the third company of the 37th Madras
Native Infantry, under Lieutenant Hadfield and two subalterns,
Devereux and Berkeley, having lost their way, were surrounded,
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 145
late in the evening and far from the main body, by masses
of Chinese volunteers. Seeing that the muskets of the company
(none of which had percussion locks), being soaked with the
rain, persistently missed fire, these volunteers attacked our men
with long spears and pruning hooks, against which the bayonets
were at a fearful disadvantage. But there this little company
of sepoys, between fifty and sixty strong, stood undaunted for
several hours, formed in square, unable to fire their muskets,
but bravely repelling the continued attacks of some two thousand
Chinese until at last two companies of Royal Marines came to
the rescue and scattered the volunteers . Yet the rescued company
lost only one man killed (hacked to pieces in their sight ) and
fifteen (including Ensign Berkeley) wounded . This rencontre,
between that one company of Madras Native Infantry and a
few thousand volunteers near the village of Samyuenli, was
vastly exaggerated by the Chinese officials and reported to the
Emperor in glowing colours as the Battle of Samyuen Village,'
whereupon the Emperor sarcastically remarked that the Canton
yokels appeared to have accomplished more than the whole of
the regular armies of China. These remarks of the Emperor
gave subsequently an immense impetus to the Fatshan-Canton
volunteer movement.
Five months later ( October 30, 1841 ) , Her Majesty the
Queen expressed her entire approbation of the operations against
Canton, but Captain Elliot, to whom the credit of the conclusion
of the Treaty is due, appears to have received neither approbation
nor thanks at the hands of his country. His Treaty of Chuenpi,
by which he gained the territory of Hongkong for Her Majesty's
possession, remained ignored by both Governments. The six
million dollars which he recovered by his Canton Treaty ' in
diminution of the just claims of Her Majesty's Government,'
and which covered the amount of the bills drawn by him on
Her Majesty's Treasury in payment of the opium surrendered
to Lin, was not applied to that purpose, but his bills were left
dishonoured and the opium compensation question allowed to
stand over for some years longer, while Her Majesty immediately
ΙΟ
146 CHAPTER XI.
allowed twelve months ' full batta to the naval and military
forces in China out of those six million dollars.
Elliot may have been to blame for the trust he reposed in
Kishen's willingness or ability to carry out the stipulations of
the Chuenpi Treaty, for the haste with which he withdrew the
British troops from Chusan (though the frightful mortality rate
which reigned there may be his excuse) , and for his omission
to secure the approval of the Emperor before thus carrying out
his part of the stipulations . But such errors of judgment ought
to have been balanced by the consideration of the many years'
faithful and approved service which he had rendered to his
country under the most harassing and painful circumstances,
and by the heroism he displayed in hurrying to the rescue of
his imprisoned countrymen at the risk of his life in 1839. All
honour is due to the memoryof brave Captain Elliot .
Strange to say, Commodore Bremer returned (June 18, 1841 )
from Calcutta with the news that he had been appointed Joint
Plenipotentiary, though, if telegraphic communication had then
existed, Elliot would have been informed long before (May 14 ,
1841 ) that both he and Bremer had already been superseded .
A few weeks after Commodore Bremer's return, he was, together
with Captain Elliot, shipwrecked in the great typhoon (July 21 ,
1841 ) and they escaped but by a hair's breadth capture and
probable assassination by Chinese pirates or soldiers . Captain
Elliot left China for Europe (August 24, 1841 ) disappointed and
unjustly dishonoured, together with Commodore Bremer. There
is a singular coincidence in the fact that the fate of Sir George
Robinson, who first recommended the annexation of Hongkong
officially, and who was curtly recalled for it, befell also the man
who, against his own will perhaps, had procured the formal
cession of Hongkong.
Sir Henry Pottinger, Baronet, a Major- General in the East
India Company's service, had been selected (May 15 , 1841 ) to be
Her Majesty's Sole Plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary,
to proceed to China on a special mission to the Chinese
Government . He had, at the same time, been commissioned
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 147
to act as Chief Superintendent of the trade of Her Majesty's
subjects with that country and invested with full power to
negotiate and conclude a Treaty for the arrangement of the
differences subsisting between Great Britain and China. For
the latter purpose, Major- General Sir Hugh Gough and Admiral
Sir William Parker were associated with him as respective
Commanders-in-chief of the military and naval forces in China.
Sir H. Pottinger having arrived at Macao (August 10 , 1841 )
together with Sir W. Parker, by the steam- frigate Sesostris,
and called on Governor Pinto, held forthwith several conferences
with Captain Elliot, Sir Hugh Gough and Mr. A. R. Johnston.
He next dispatched (August 13, 1841 ) his Secretary, Major
Malcolm, to Canton, to deliver to the Imperial Commissioners
and to the Viceroy dispatches announcing his arrival as Sole
Plenipotentiary, and warning the Chinese Authorities that the
slightest infringement of the terms of the truce, concluded by
the Treaty of Canton, would lead to an instant renewal of
hostilities in the Canton Province.
The arrival of these dispatches, and the plain warning
thus given to the Chinese Authorities, caused great excitement
at Canton. The literati and gentry viewed the attitude of
superiority and the tone of undisguised severity, which Sir
H. Pottinger had adopted in these dispatches, so utterly at
variance with the polite and humbly respectful style of Elliot's
communications, as a studied insult and unbearable disgrace.
The popular feeling, thus aroused , vented itself at the next
public examination of graduates ( September 16, 1841 ) , when
the Acting Prefect (Yü Pao-shun ) was hooted by the students
and driven out of the examination hall as a public traitor. The
people now made common cause with their officials , though
they hated them, and the officials, egged on by the literati to
defy Sir H. Pottinger's warning, waited only for a diminution
of the forces at Hongkong when they re-built most of the forts
inside the Bogue. But when they attempted ( September, 1841 )
to re-arm the Wangtong forts, close to the Bogue, H.M.S.
Royalist, forming part of the small squadron under the command
148 CHAPTER XI.
of Captain Nias (of H.M.S. Herald), immediately destroyed the
works without ado.
On the day of his arrival at Macao (August 10, 1841 ) ,
Sir H. Pottinger issued a Gazette Extraordinary to inform Her
Majesty's subjects at Macao and Hongkong of his appointment
and the nature of his commission . Two days later he intimated
(August 12, 1841 ) that the primary object of his mission was
to secure a speedy and satisfactory close of the war, and that
no consideration of mercantile interests would be allowed to
interfere with that object. In the same notification he referred
to the well-understood perfidy and bad faith ' of the Cantonese
Authorities, and warned British subjects of a probable interrup-
tion of the present truce, cautioning them against putting
themselves or their property in the power of the Chinese officials.
As to the occupation of Hongkong, Sir H. Pottinger stated,
at the close of this notification, that the arrangements made
by his predecessor with reference to Hongkong should remain
in force until the pleasure of Her Majesty regarding that Island
and those arrangements should be received.' These words plainly
intimated that the Chuenpi Treaty and the cession of Hongkong,
and especially the act of formally taking possession of the Island
in the name of Her Majesty, had so far been neither disapproved
nor formally approved by Her Majesty's Government . Things
were left in statu quo and that meant, to all practical intents
and purposes, tacit provisional confirmation of the cession of
Hongkong.
On August 21 , 1841 , the expedition started from Hongkong,
the ships being all cleared for action. A descent was made
first upon Amoy. The forts, town and citadel of Amoy, together
with the fortified island of Kulangsoo , were captured (August
26, 1841 ) . Leaving a small garrison at Amoy, the expedition
proceeded to Chusan , where Tinghai fell into the hands of the
English after a noble resistance ( October 1 , 1841 ) . In taking
possession again of the whole island of Chusan, Sir H. Pottinger
notified (October 2, 1841 ) , by a public circular, that under no
circumstances would Chusan be restored again to the Chinese
CONFIRMATION OF THE CESSION OF HONGKONG. 149
Government, until the whole of the demands of England (as
previously made at Tientsin) were not only complied with but
carried into full effect. The fortified towns of Chinhai (October
10, 1841 ) and Ningpo (October 13, 1841 ) were next occupied.
At Chinhai a most obstinate resistance was offered by the Chinese
troops. When the Imperial Commissioner Yue-kien, who had
previously tortured and murdered an English prisoner (Captain
Stead), saw that all was lost, he committed suicide rather
than surrender himself into the hands of the English. The
transport Nerbulda having been wrecked on the Formosan coast
(September 26 , 1841 ) , nearly the whole of the crew and
passengers were murdered by Chinese officials in prison . The
same scenes occurred after the wreck of the British brig Anne.
These dastardly deeds, for which a Manchu Brigadier called
Tahunga was chiefly responsible, were reported to the Emperor,
and gloated over all through the Empire as great victories
gained in battle, and Tahunga was promoted in consequence.
On receiving the news of the fall of Tinghai, Chinhai and
Ningpo, the Emperor immediately ordered the defences of
Tientsin and Taku to be strengthened (November 1 , 1841 ) and
appealed to the whole nation to rise against the English and
continue unsparingly the war of extermination (November 15,
1841 ) . Kishen was now pardoned and called into service again as
assistant to Yikking, who was dispatched (December 1 , 1841 )
as Imperial Commissioner to recover Chinhai at any cost .
A lull now ensued in the proceedings. The Chinese felt
that the supremacy of China over the rest of the world was
at stake and carefully prepared for the struggle which was to
decide the question for ever. The British expedition also was
waiting for reinforcements, as sickness had made great havoc
among the troops. Sir H. Pottinger meanwhile returned to
Hongkong and Macao where he learned that the Cantonese had,
for months past, been straining every nerve to prepare for an
early renewal of hostilities. The Imperial Commissioner Yikshan
had enrolled (October 8 , 1841 ) large bodies of paid village
volunteers for the defence of Canton city, to the great annoyance
150 CHAPTER XI.
of the citizens . Stoneboats had been scuttled at Howqua's Folly
and in Blenheim Reach, to obstruct access to Canton. The
Chinese gunpowder factories-one of which, near Canton city ,
blew up by accident (January 12, 1842 ) -were working extra
time. The cannon foundries at Fatshan were turning out
superior kinds of brass guns of a foreign pattern . Six new forts
had been constructed under foreign advice, and an army of
30,000 men was under instruction in the use of musket and
bayonet. Sir H. Pottinger stopped the seizure of Chinese vessels
which had been ordered by the officer (Captain Nias ) who, after
the death at Hongkong of Sir Humphrey Le Fleming Senhouse
(June 13 , 1841 ) , had succeeded to the post of Senior Naval
Officer. But Sir H. Pottinger at the same time warned the
Cantonese Authorities repeatedly that the least attempt to rebuild
the Bogue Forts would bring upon Canton a most severe
chastisement.
During the month of March, 1842, the struggle was to be
renewed. For months previous to that date the Provincial
Authorities up and down the coast made extensive preparations
with a view to resume the combat, in March, by simultaneous
attacks upon the British positions at Hongkong, Chinhai and
Ningpo.