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honour to report that in consequence of official information which reached me through. Shanghai- I sent to Your Lordship 11th instant the subjoined telegram:-
on the
"French have taken Vort Keelung
X
in
Forrnosa.
-Keelung is a small
town in the north of the great-
Formosa,
as
island of Jaiwan, or F
it was named by the early
Portuguese Navigators
on account
of
There is no telegraphic communication between Formosa and the mainland
of China; and only occasional steamers.
is
of its beauty and fertility. The chief importance of Keelung derived from the coal-mines in
its vicinity. The Chinese are said to have destroyed the machinery
for raising the coal, in
consequence
of the French attack. The French ships demolished the Forts, (which
were
X
of little strength), with but trifling loss (as it is reported)
either to themselves or to the Chinese
X
3.
"There were three French men-of-war at- Keelung, under the command of Admiral Lespès, viz. the ironelad La Galissonnière, (Hagship), the Villars, (Corvette), and the Lutin (Gunboat).
4