482
Reminiscences of Chusan.
SEP.
ed out a smack, which he said was manned by soldiers. A boat being dispatched to take her, the prize was brought alongside, and proved to be a leaky concern with only one old fisherman in it. This was the commencement of our heroic deeds.
To obtain a knowledge of the passage to Chusan harbor, which not one individual amongst all our sailors had yet done, the Atalanta was sent ahead to reconnoitre. On entering the harbor, several war- junks were discovered close in shore. The Chinese had no warning of our arrival; but as soon as it was ascertained, that the fleet had anchored near Chusan harbor, a furious edict was issued by the dis- trict magistrate Yaou, who, by a carte blanche from the It.-governor, had been enabled to promulgate such orders in cases of emergency. This paper, however, only mentioned the sale of opium, and never once alluded to any hostile intentions on the part of the barbarians; though it made considerable demands on the good citizens of Chu- san. To insure obedience to his orders, the worthy Yaou had made the principal firms, both in the suburbs and the city, responsible for any acts of aggression on the part of the foreigners, and actually took hostages from the people, to insure the good behavior of the invaders!
The sudden appearance of the first steamboat caused a great sen- sation amongst the inhabitants, who came in thousands to the beach in order to behold the strange vessel. To do this they had leisure enough, for she had grounded on a sand-bank, and could not get off before the water had risen to a considerable extent. No native boats came near, though there was a great stir amongst the musketoe fleet in the harbor. The master of the Wellesley, on approaching Pagoda Hill, in order to take the soundings along shore, was beckoned off by a fierce officer with a fan. But this rude barbarian actually believed, that he night have taken the place with his boat's crew, which was by no means one of the strongest. Having ascertained that the largest vessel could approach close to the shore, the fact was communicated to the commanders. They would have done well if they had imme- diately proceeded with the favorable breeze then blowing. As it was, however, the progress of the expedition was deferred a whole day, several vessels grounded, and the transports got in with consi- derable difficulty.
The Wellesley had, on Saturday the 4th July, taken up her posi- tion close to the suburbs. The merchaut junks in the meanwhile had left, and now commenced an enrigration, which very soon empti- ed the harbor of a large number of native craft. This lasted