Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 415

1842

Journal of Occurrences

397

ART. VII. Journal of Occurrences: military operations in Kiáng- sú; report of the English being at the mouth of the Pei hő; death of one of the members of the cabinet; affairs at Chusan, Amoy, Hongkong, Macao, Canton; new king of Cochinchina; shipwrecked Japanese.

SOMETIMES, when our allotted number of pages is nearly filled, near the end of the month, a variety of interesting matter comes to hand, all of which we would gladly lay before our readers at once. This we cannot always do; communications, however, shall seldom be postponed longer than a month. This remark being made, to prevent correspondents having the idea that their communications are not acceptable, we proceed to notice such in- cidents and occurrences as seen most likely to be interesting to our readers. 1. Military operations in Kiáng sú commenced about the middle of last month. In expectation of these we gave, in recent numbers of the Reposi- tory, some topographical notices of that province and of A'nhwui, which once formed the great territory of Kiángnán. The southwestern portion of the province, which constitutes the department of Sungkiáng, has been the scene of these operations. The mouth of the Wúsung (Woosung) may be some sixty or eighty miles due north from Chápú. From hence the line of coast stretches away first to the northeast, and then turning in a sharp angle it runs to the northwest.

H. B. M.'s plenipotentiary, it will be remembered, left Hongkong on the 13th ultimo; he passed Amoy, after touching there for a few hours, on the 15th; and having spent a day or so at Chusan, left that place about noon on the 19th. Several British ships of war, 25 transports, and the French frigate Erigone, were then at anchor in the outer harbor. The Queen passed along the western shores of Kintáng, running against a strong current; some islands, called we believe the Seven Sisters, were soon visible off on the left, marking the entrance to Hángchau fú up the river Tsientáng; and erelong the Rugged islands were in sight, abreast of which she anchored for the night. The next day, the 20th, moving on at an early hour, she passed the Belleisle, Vixen, and some other ships, lying off the mouth of the Great river (the Yangtsz' kiáng); the Plover (lately called the Bentinck) was lying among them, and pointed out the dangerous rock, which recently all but irreparably destroyed the Ariadne. In an hour or two, as she moved on, the low unvaried plain of Kiángsú was visible from her deck Clusters of trees, surrounding each little hamlet along the south bank of the river, ren- dered perceptible the position of the land. Advancing a little further, and a dry bank, on her right, showed an outline of a part of the island of Tsung- ming; and in an hour or two trees on all side were visible. At sunset the Queen anchored among the shipping off the mouth of the Wúsung river, dis- tant more than half a mile from the shore. From this place was issued a

CIRCULAR TO H. B. M's. SUBJECTS IN CHINA.

"The gratifying duty of aunouncing further highly important successes of her majesty's combined forces, again devolves on H. M. plenipotentiary in China. After the necessary delay in destroying the batteries, magazines, founderics, barracks, and other public buildings, as well as the ordnance, arms, and ammuni tion, captured at Chápu, the troops were reembarked, and the expedition finally quitted that port on the 23d of May, and arrived on the 29th off the Rugged islands, where it remained until the 13th of June, on which day it crossed the Bar, which had been previously surveyed and buoyed off, into the Yangtsz' kiáng river, to the point where the river is joined by the Wúsung.

“At this point the Chinese authrities haod erected immense lines of works,to de-