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Positions of the British and Chinese Forces.
MAY,
After the capture of Chinhái, and the consequent occupation of Ningpò in Oct. last, the amount of force then with the head-quarters of the expedition was not deemed sufficient for further onward progress. It would have shown weakness, and afforded encou- ragement, to the Chinese to have retired from Ningpo without making a simultaneous forward movement to some other more im- portant point; and it was therefore resolved to retain possession of that city for the winter, unless the excuse of a ransom should be given for its evacuation. We ourselves cannot but think, that, whether the immediate object of keeping the troops quiet and unfatigued during the winter months be considered, or the desir ableness of losing no opportunity to press the enemy to the utmost possible straits be the question, it would, in either point of view, have been better, at this early period, when the defenses of the capital of the province were hardly even commenced, to have pushed on and taken, or ransomed at a high rate (and thereby weakened the enemy's 'sinews of war'), the ancient city of Hángchau, the capital of the whole province. Such a movement, it would appear, is now to be made (if at the date of our writing it has not been already accom- plished); and this, with no great increase of force upon the side of the British, though opposed to a vastly increased number of men and extent of defenses ou the side of the Chinese. The difficulties to be encountered are great; but we feel not a doubt, that the superiority of British arms and discipline-under the blessing of the God of battles, who giveth not always the battle to the strong, nor the race to the swift-will come off victorious. A statement of these difficul- ties, and some exposition of the recent events which have led to this movement in advance, may be looked for by our readers.
Hángchau, as we have elsewhere stated, lies on the north bank of the river Tsientáng, at a point where that river, after a rapid course from the southward and westward, through the western districts of the province, begins to open out and form a wide embouchure toward "The tide, when full," says sir G. Staunton in his account of Macartney's embassy, "increases the width of this river to about four miles opposite the city. At low water, there is a fine level strand, near two miles broad, which extends towards the sea as far as the eye can reach.”
the sea.
On its southern shore, as we proceed eastward from Hángchau, this swift-flowing river has deposited, during the lapse of ages, upon the slope of a ridge of hills that skirts it to the southward, bank upon bank of sand and earth, brought down by its rapid stream from the