676
Memorial from Lew Yunko of Chěkeäng.
DEC.
the capital of the province, have been duly reported to the throne, by your majesty's minister Lew, in successive dispatches, dated the 12th, 13th, and the 24th of October.
:
On the 16th of October, Lúh Tseihchang, the intendant of the departments of Ningpo and Shaouhing, made a report. The said intendant, on the 10th of October fought at Chinhae; but on account of the fierce bearing of the rebellious foreigners, our soldiers were unable to withstand them and maintain their defenses; and the heights of Kinke and Chaoupaou, with the chief town of the district, were one after another lost. The said intendant, seeing that the case was impracticable, threw himself into the river that he might sacrifice life in the maintenance of duty; while in a state of insensibili- ty, he was taken from the water by the marines (lit. water braves), and in a small boat was sent off to Tszeke, when recuscitation commenc- ed, and he began to revive, although his thighs had been severely wounded by his fall. Having heard that the commander-in-chief (Yu Pooyun) had fallen back for the defense of Ningpo, and that the im perial commissioner and high minister Yukeën,-having attempting to sacrifice life in the maintenance of duty, but being rescued from the water by the people,-had, after reaching Ningpo, expired on the road while being borne off from thence to the provincial capital; the said intendant, seeing the routed troops come rushing into the city (of Ningpo) in perfect confusion and disorder, now at length took off his wounded self to Shangyu, and there assembled together the scattered soldiers, purposing to return and defend the city of Ningpo.
On the 15th of October, Shaou Yung, a domestic of Täng Tingtsae the prefect of Ningpo, reported that, on the 12th, a steamer came up to the city and sounded the depth of the water, and that early on the morning of the 13th, eight ships of war coming up near to the city, Tăng Tingtsae, the commander-in-chief Yu Pooyun, aud the chief magistrate of the district, went out with their troops for the defense of the place; but on account of the small number of their troops and the constant firing of the enemy, they were unable to maintain the defense; and seven or eight hundred of the foreign soldiers having made a rush into the city, Tăng Tingtsae leaped from the wall over the western gate into the moat. The people belonging to the small boats dragged him out of the water, and bore him away to the city [of Tszeke?], in an apparently lifeless condition; but on the applica tion of ginger gruel, he showed symptoms of life and began to breathe. The other officers, civil and military, the said domestic knew not where they had gone. On passing through the city of Tszeke, he saw it deserted and empty.
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