46
Review of Puble Occurrences During the
SEP.
as they took place, leaving their most favorable construction to your lordship's unvarying kindness, and to that consideration for my harassing situation which I am sure will be extended to me by her majesty's government. Upon our arrival at the station of the junks, which I found anchored in a line ahead and close order, under rather a formidable and well-manned battery, I brought up abreast of them at about pistol-shot distance, and dispatched Mr. Gutzlaff in a small boat with two men (perfectly unarmed) to the centre junk, taking her from her size and *uperior equipment to be the vessel of the commanding-officer. He carried in his hand the papers (pages 461 and 466), and the paper (on page 466) contains his notes of what took place. After five or six hours of delay and irritating evasion, I sent a boat on shore to a distant part of the bay with money to purchase supplies, which the people succceded in doing, and were on the point of bringing away, when some police-runners approached, and obliged the natives to take back their provisions.
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'They returned to me with this intelligence, and greatly provoked, I opened fire from the pinnace, the cutter, and the other vessel, upon the three junks. It was answered both from them and the battery, with a spirit not at all unexpected by me, for I have already had experience that the Chinese are much under-rated in that respect. After a fire of almost half-an-hour against this vastly superior force, we hauled off from the failure of our ammunition; for I have already said, antici- pating no serious results, we had not come in prepared for them. It was evident, however, that the junks had suffered considerably, and after a delay of about three-quarters of an hour, they weighed and made sail from under the protection of the battery, with the obvious purpose of making their escape through an adjacent outlet. By this time we had made cartridges, and were in a state to renew the action, and, as captain Smith had proceeded out to bring in her ma. jesty's ship, and wished the vessels to be prevented from escaping, I bore up and engaged them again, and succeeded in beating them back to their former position. In this affair, as in the preceding, I was very gallantly supported by Mr. Reddie, the commander of the Pearl; but the superior sailing of the cutter, cast the task of sending back these three vessels upon that vessel; and I can have no doubt that the impression, that such a force was more than enough to cope with three of their war-junks, will indispose the commissioner to revert to his menaced measures of attack against this fleet. By this time the evening was closing in, and we returned to join the Volage and the boats from the fleet, then entering the bay for our support. During the night I conferred with captain Smith, and he acceded to my recommendation, not to proceed in the morning and destroy the three junks; and above all, not to land men for the purpose of attack upon the battery, a mea. sure that would probably lead to the destruction of the neighboring village, and great injury and irritation of the inhabitants. If her services had been required for our support against a state of actual attack, such considerations could not have prevailed; but it did not appear to me to be judicious, or indeed becoming, to recommend the employment of her majesty's ship in the destruction of three junks, already most effectually checked by my own small vessel, with the assist. ance of another scarcely larger. There had been no act of aggression against her majesty's ship, and her active interference was unnecessary for the support of the honor of the flag.
· The impression that this heavy force was not to be lightly used, and that there