The vessels which composed the flotilla had been built at the head of the Hoonan branch of the Yang tsze, and had been following in the track of the Insurgenta down. They were found to be manned altogether by Canton volunteer gunners or cantion brave," many of whom the mandarins have since stated :n be reclaimed pirates. There were no regular forces nor any mandarins present, and each vessel was stated to be independent of the others. Several of the headasen or commanders came on board the Hermes; but no exact information respecting the position and strength of the Imperial armies could be obtained from them. One who had all the appearance and manner of an impudent China street shopkeeper, was however at pains to explain emphatically, and with an air of much disgust, that the Insurgents were "Christians and robbers-rob- bers and Christians." The Hermes anchored again off ¡Nanking about dark. During the following day, the 2d May, her decks were again covered with Insur- gents, officers and men, until she weighed at about 4 P.M. to return to Shanghae. It had been formally notified in the morning to one of the higher leaders, that all parties having now been distinctly informed of the neutral and pacific intentions of the Hermes, any fire on her in future would be at once returned, she having before refrained from returning the fire at Chin-keang only because the circumstances under which she had appeared were certainly suspicious. In reply it was stated, that no thought need be taken on that score, as communications had, since the arrival of the vessel, been exchanged with Chin-keang, and that the nature of her position to the Insurgents was there well known. The communications in question would not appear, however, to have been acted on with sufficient promptitude by publication to the forces generally; for on the approach of the Hermes on the morning of the 3d May to the stockaded bat- teries erected to protect the entrance to the Grand Canal at Kwa-chow, she was fired at; and, so far as could be judged on after enquiry and consideration, it was done merely is pursuance of general orders to resist all attempts of other than their own people to pass their lines. In every case the attack could not have been premeditated on the part of the higher officers, as many of the guns in the stockades were not manped. Enough were, however, in readiness in the first stockade and the adjoining junks to enable them to discharge five or six shots before Captain Fishbourne's order to load and run out the guns could be carried into effect. The Hermes then began to return the fire, proceeding at the same time slowly down the river, carried by the current, and either steaming easily, or occasionally with her engines stopped, to permit of a better aim at some more con- spicuous assailant. After passing the stockades that lined the Kwa-chow side of the river, she had to sus- tain a similar fire from those on the Chin-keang side, distributing in return some 40 or 50 round shot and a few shell; after which she anchored off Silver Island about a mile below the fortified heights. Within an hour afterward a letter of a civil and paci- fic character, evidently prepared some days before, was brought down by a messenger to the bank op- posite, and sent on board by a fishing-boat. While the answer to this was being written, a group con- taining several yellow-jacketed leaders was observed collecting on the bank and making signe of a desire to communicate. Mr Meadows was sent to them, and found it was Lo-ta-kang and Woo-joo-keaou, the two Insurgent Generals in command at Chin-keang, who had come to explain that the fire had been opened at Kwa-chow in mistake by some new troops, who were not aware of the Hermes having been in peaceful communication with their Princes at Nan- king.
After some conversation, Mr Meadows invited them to go on board the Steamer, but they declined. He then asked for one of their people to come on board in order to take back a reply to their letter. Three volunteered at once, one of whom was found to be a Meaou-tsze, or independent aboriginal Moun-- taineer from Kwei-chow. He was a middle-sized young man, of earnest gesture and expression. He spoke mandarin purely, but with some effort, like a foreigner. He said 3,000 of his people were with the Insurgents, and spoke with pride of the fact that they had never submitted to the rule of the Man- choos; in proof whereof he shewed his long hair, notį shortened by shaving from his youth up. When the letter was handed to him, he promised to bring an answer within an hour, and kept his word by riding down within that period in a heavy rain. The Hermes then started for Shanghae, which she, reached without adventure at 3 P.M. on Thursday the 5th May.
On the whole it is believed that the return fire of the Hermes will have done us good with the Insur- gents. It was made quite clear to them, both by letter and verbally, that they had brought it on them- selves. Hence, after the forbearance previously shewn in going up, it is thought that the promptitude with which this single vessel stopped and returned the fire of the first battery that opened on her, and the leisurely way in which she then went on, discharging a few shot at very point from which she was assailed, would have no worse effect than to convince such of the Insurgents as know practically nothing of us, that it would be well to keep the peace with a people who had such vessels and could so use them. All must have been made sensible of the superiority of our artillery to their own. A few of their shot struck the rigging and ball of the Hermes, but without doing
i
any injury of importance, and no one on board was hurt, as they had the opportunity of garning at Silver Island. On the other hand, many of her hot struck the stockades with visible effect; one of the first sla entrance of the Grand Canal; after another, directed fired brought down two or three masta of junks in the against the battery, in which was a yellow-jacketed leader on horse-back, he suddenly disappeared, the horse galloping off riderless; and at Silver Island it shot directed against a small junk on the Chinkeang was ascertained that three men had been killed by a side, one of the last fired. The shells too, one of which, directed against a battery on the very summit of the heights, was observed to burst with beautiful accuracy on reaching its destination, must have been considered dangerous and far- travelling visitors.
It appears that considerations arising out of our relations with the existing government prevented Sir George Bonbam from personally seeing any of the Chiefs, but the object of his visit was fully explained i to all by letter and verbally. There is no official· mystery on the present occasion, and we are accord-' ingly enabled to state that the communications were to the following effect: That the desire of the British was to remain perfectly neutral in the present struggle for dominion in China; that the proclamations of the Manchoo-government about the assistance of foreign war-steamers were false in so far as those of H. B. Majesty were referred to; that our Government had nothing to do with the fleet of Lorchas which had followed the Hermes into Chinkeang that the sale of ships, private property, to either contending party, could not be prevented, but that when so sold, they were no longer entitled to the use of the national flag that British subjecta entering into the service of either party, having thereby forfeited their claim to pro- tection from the British Government, would receive none; but that all British subjecte peaceably attend- ing to their lawful avocations at the Five Ports, ac- cording to the terms of existing Treaties, were entitled to such protection; and that no injury done to them in
person or property would fail to be speedily and fully resented.
One of the higher Insurgent leaders, who twice visited the Hermes officially, said that foreign vessels were welcome to trade at Nanking, and that to prevent their being attacked, they had only to send on a boat some 7 or 8 miles in advance. With this exception, no approach was made to detail in their communica- tions, whether written or verbal, but they distinctly stated that free and unmolested commercial intercourse was perfectly open to us. Considering the circum- enemies, of whom the most effective were foreigners, stances in which they were placed, surrounded by
friendly, and trustful; forming a striking contrast their bearing was not only civil but decidedly frank,
repellant, demeanour which has always characterized with the cold and guarded, when not positively
calculating desire to conciliate, was proved by the fact the mandarins. That this proceeded from no merely that they yielded not one jot of their pretensions in matters of dignity; and, hemmed in as they were descended to no imploring" or "praying" for our aid.
3139 Hong Kong
Schedule of despatches transmitted by the bo
TVED RECEIVED AUG 15
311
1893 ghong to the
Sceretary of State for the Colonies, by the mail Steamer "Malta",
via Southampton on the 23 June, 1855.
No4dey. Date of Deer.
Jubject of despatch
Duplicates. By the Acting Somerun
Governo.
38. May 25 Reporting appointment of 12 Frederick Pedder
acting & Clist in the Colonial Secretary's office, in -103 Wardle Sterling, resigned.
39.
40.
the room
7
as
Reporting liberation of 2.Chinese Prismes on the
recasion of
the Queen's Birthday.
By the Governor.
the Northern
27. Perating return to the colony from
Ports.
41. June 3rd Replying to His braces: Eircular of 200 chnuary
lact, respecting Colonial Registers of Bapticons, Burials, and Mariages.
42.
Calling attention to this Icipatel M./2 of 214 Feby. 1852, and submitting
application from Murodder
My And
Mimic
2.
Time.
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