FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[5]Note 4.[6]Note 5.[7]Note 6.[8]Note 7.

[5]Note 4.

[6]Note 5.

[7]Note 6.

[8]Note 7.

Captain Anstruther—Kindness to marines—Mandarin's questions—Chinese music—Jolly-boat party arrive—Privations—Medical treatment—Removed—Sedans—Town—Joshouse—Apartment—Guard-room.

Towards the middle of the day, there was a commotion in the yard, and soon afterwards, the jailers and some other people came in, and I and two more, a marine and a boy, were carried out; after waiting a short time in the yard, our cages were again shouldered, and we were conveyed through the town to the residence of a mandarin, but not the same house we had been at two days before. We were taken into the entrance-hall, which had theusual canopy at the farther end; being, I suppose, the "Hall of Ancestors." I was released from my cage directly it was set down, and found myself with the English prisoner I had previously seen. He told me he was Captain Anstruther, and had been kidnapped at Chusan; that our heads were in comparative security, but that perhaps we should have a long imprisonment, as the Chinese would only consent to give us up, if the English would evacuate Chusan; but to this condition we could not hope the commander-in-chief would accede. However, he was, at the desire of the mandarins, going to write to Chusan to this effect, and by this means our countrymen would know where we were, and perhaps be enabled to procure our release. Whilst I was walking with him, I saw one of the marines, who had been brought to the mandarins with me, lying behind a sedan on a grass-plot, and knowing that he had the dysentery, I feared the poor fellow was dead; but Captain Anstruther said he haddesired him to be placed there, that he might have the benefit of the sun; he had given him some cakes, and afterwards procured him a pair of trowsers; he also caused a doctor to be sent for him; in fact, he did everything that lay in his power to ameliorate our condition.

In a short time I was summoned before the mandarin, and found the same party assembled as before, with the interpreter in waiting. I expected to be questioned concerning the strength of the fleet and army at Chusan; but, on the contrary, the mandarins contented themselves with asking me the most frivolous questions about myself, whether I was married, how old I was, if I had a father or mother, and such like inquiries. When this examination was over, Captain Anstruther was brought in, and as he was a "great captain," was allowed to sit on the floor of the room, whilst we sat outside on the stones. A plate of cakes and a cup of tea were also handed to him. The mandarins could not be madeto understand how Captain Anstruther and our party, both having come from Chusan, should not know each other; nor indeed would they believe me, when I said I had never seen him until the day before. They questioned and cross-questioned me, but to no purpose, as I had never seen or even heard of such a person till then. They could not comprehend the meaning of marines, till Captain Anstruther explained it by calling them "sea soldiers," by which name the marines ever afterwards went.

They made many inquiries about Captain Noble, his wife and child, and showed that they knew much concerning our vessel, from the numerous spies they had at Chusan. After a few more such questions, I was dismissed; and, being lifted into my cage, was carried back to the jail, where I had my supper, and was then locked up for the night. At dark the usual serenade commenced, which noise, with my uncomfortable position, drove all expectation of sleep, at least by night, out of my head.

Soon after we had finished our breakfast the next morning, some of the Chinese prisoners began to play on musical instruments, in different parts of the yard, and independent of each other. One of these instruments was something like a mandoline, and played in the same way; but it was a most monotonous affair, with trifling variety in the notes; and the song was as bad, a kind of sing-song noise, with very little pretensions to the name of music. Another was a kind of small violin, played with a bow; the player could only produce a wretched noise. One man had a small fife; he was not a whit superior to his fellows, though they seemed lost in rapture at their own performance, and remained strumming and blowing all day long, barely allowing themselves time for their meals.

The next morning, Wednesday, two more of our party were taken to the mandarins, and on their return reported the arrival of Mrs. Noble, Lieut. Douglas, Mr. Witts our chief mate, and the two Lascar boys, whohad escaped in the jolly-boat. They told us that Mrs. Noble was in the same kind of cage that we were in. I could scarcely believe them, till the two Lascar boys were brought in, and they confirmed the statement They had not only put her in a cage, but had also put irons on her, treating her in the same manner as they did the male prisoners; and, indeed, in some instances even worse. The mandarins had not the humanity to order her to be taken out of the cage, but let her remain there.

Soon after the boys had come in, Lieut. Douglas and Mr. Witts were brought into the jail, not to our place, but to the rooms on the other side of the yard; and though we could see them, we had no opportunity of speaking. They had been drifting about in the boat for three days, in great misery, not having had any food, except a little dry rice, and some water, out of a junk which they boarded; till at last, being obliged to go on shore, they were made prisoners. I had hoped they mighthave reached Chusan, and given an account of the loss of the Kite, and the probability of our being prisoners.

Next day, Saturday, Lieut. Douglas and Mr. Witts, who were kept on the opposite side to us, were taken out of their cages in the daytime, and allowed to walk about the yard; and as they were not prevented coming over to us, they heard our tale, and related theirs in return. Captain Anstruther and Mrs. Noble were kept in separate rooms in another yard; they also were allowed their liberty by day, but when night came, all were locked down in their cages. Through Captain Anstruther's entreaties (who had many opportunities of seeing the mandarins, besides having the advantage of the captured interpreter's company) a doctor came to see some of the prisoners, two of whom had the dysentery very badly, besides several who had spear wounds, and others whose flesh the irons had galled and worked into sores; to the latter he applied plasters, with a pinkpowder, which healed them in a short time; but as for those who had the dysentery, he merely felt the pulse, looked at them, and went away, leaving orders that the lids of their cages should always be left open, and the irons taken off their hands.

On Monday morning, Lieut. Douglas came over, and told us we were all going to be removed to a more comfortable place; he and Mr. Witts very soon after were taken away. We had an early supper, and as soon as we had finished, some mandarin officers arrived, one carrying a small board, with some Chinese characters upon it. Their arrival caused a great bustle, and the jailer came in, unlocked the long chain that went through all the cages, and took five of the prisoners away with him. They walked out of the yard, and soon after he returned and took five more, and so on till it came to my turn; I was then lifted out of the cage, and walked out of our yard into a smaller one, where the ring wastaken off my neck, and the irons off my hands, my legs still remaining chained. I was here motioned to sit down on a small form, and on looking round I perceived Mrs. Noble standing at a gate in one corner. I had not seen her since the wreck, so wishing to speak to her, I got up, and was going towards her, but my keepers immediately stopped me, and one, to my surprise, said, "Must not, must not." I turned to him directly, and said, "Do you speak English?" he replied, "Yes, sare;" though on my asking him some other questions, he either would not or could not answer me. On my again attempting to go to Mrs. Noble, he repeated his former expression, and put his hand on my shoulder to prevent my rising. I was obliged, therefore, to content myself with exchanging a few signs with her.

I did not remain long in this place, for I was soon walked out into the open space before the prison, where I found some sedans, into one of which I stepped. Theywere open in front, and the ends of the bamboos were fastened together by a crosspiece of the same material, which the bearers, by stopping, placed on their shoulders, and raising the sedan from the ground, trotted off with us at a great rate; several soldiers going before to clear the way.

Some of the streets through which I passed were rather broad, and all were paved with loose flags, not cemented together. The different trades appeared to have their particular streets; the dyers were in one part of the town, the braziers in another, and so on: some of the shops were very well set off, and all quite open to the street. The houses were mostly built of wood, and the names and occupations of the owners were painted up and down the door-posts, in yellow and other bright colours, some being gilded, giving the streets a gay appearance. Here and there was an opening where a joshouse stood; the pillars and other parts of the front gaudily painted and ornamented; and onthe roof were placed several images. I passed several open doors, which led into courtyards belonging to apparently large houses; the courts were thronged with women and children, who all crowded to the entrance as I passed. Neither in this, nor in any other instance did they appear to be deprived of liberty, or to live secluded. The streets had generally a door at each end, in an archway; and this being shut at night, relieves the shopkeepers from the fear of thieves, to whom their open houses would otherwise be very easy of access. The butchers' shops were well fitted up with huge wooden slabs and blocks, and quarters of immensely fat pork hung up for sale; geese, ducks, vegetables, and fish, were all exposed in the broad open streets, as if in a market. I was carried across several bridges, which were built over black, slimy, sewer-looking places, from which, and from the streets themselves, arose even more than the two and seventy several stenches of Cologne.

Drawn by C. H. Greenhill.Engraved by W. Lee.

My bearers trotted on through innumerable streets, the soldiers clearing the way before them, not a difficult task, as the curiosity of the inhabitants seemed satisfied, and there was little or no crowd, the people merely coming to their doors and looking at me as I passed. I arrived at length at the end of my journey, the sedan stopped, and I walked out; then turned to my left up a narrow courtyard, and at the end found several mandarins sitting with their officers. I ought to have said before that we knew the mandarins by the balls or buttons on the top of their caps, there being four kinds that I saw—red, blue, white, and crystal; red, I believe, being the highest rank. The officers were distinguished by gilded balls, having one or two tails of fur appending to them, according to their rank. I made a bow on passing, which they all returned; and I was led across a small yard, where I observed large earthen pans for catching water. I walked into a small square room, and againjoined the Englishmen who had preceded me. The floor was covered with mats, and the change from our cages was most agreeable. In a short time some more of the prisoners arrived, and the room was filled with eleven Europeans and four Lascars, making fifteen in all, just as many as the room would hold; nine being on one side, and six on the other, the rest of this side being occupied by a water-bucket, and two small washing-tubs. It being now dark, we began to think of sleep, so we lay down, which there was just room enough to do, each man lying on his back, and the feet of both rows meeting in the centre; so that we had little space to toss about in; however, this was paradise to the cages, and thinking we should not remain here long, we made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would allow.

The next morning a servant brought us some water to wash ourselves, (the first time we had been allowed this luxury,) fine whiterice boiled in water, and served up in small wooden tubs. We had as much rice as we wished for, and a kind of stew, very much like old rags boiled, in one dish, and salt-fish in another; the dishes were of common earthenware, and shaped like a bowl. There being fifteen of us, we divided ourselves into three messes, five in each, and to each mess was brought a tub full of rice, one dish of stew, and one of very small fish, salted, and served up raw; but I could not make out what they were.

After this meal I began to look about me; the night previous having been too dark for me to notice any of the surrounding objects.

The room I was in, I found, was partitioned off from another, in which was a bed, with two or three chairs, and a small table. In this room lived an old officer, of some rank, I suppose, as all the soldiers, and our jailer, paid him great respect. Two young men came to him every day; whom we used to see, standing up before him, with their hands behind their backs, like schoolboys,saying their lessons to him. It looked, as ours did, into a small court, in which, also, were some of the same kind of large pans for catching rain water, as those before mentioned. Two sides of the apartment in which I was placed, were of wood, and the other two of white bricks; but they were so thin, and so insecurely placed together, that it would have required little strength to shove them down. The floor was an inch thick in dirt, and the ceiling (which was a great height) covered with cobwebs. It was a place that we might have got out of with very little trouble; but when out, we should not have known which way to turn, if escape had been our object, and our dress and looks would have betrayed us instantly. The consequence of such an attempt might have been fatal; so that they had us as safely confined in this insecure building, as when we were in the cages, fettered and chained to one another.

In front of our room was one appropriated to the use of one of the keepers. Anold man, hasty at times, when rather fou, but who always behaved civilly, and in general very kindly towards us. To the left of his dormitory was a passage that led to the cook-house; and to the right, another that led into a large yard, on each side of which was a spacious apartment, where their jos-ceremonies were performed. Outside our door was a passage, and a staircase that led to the upper story. The passage led down to another large yard, one side of which was walled up, and on the other was a large open room, containing chairs, tables, and sleeping couches, with cane bottoms: this seemed the guard-room, as soldiers were always there, playing with dice and dominoes; and their arms (match-locks, and bows and arrows,) were scattered about. Beyond this room was another passage, which led to the room where the sixteen Lascars were confined; a smaller and far less comfortable place than ours.

What opportunities I had of seeing the building caused me to conclude, that it wasa jos-house, and of spacious dimensions; but I saw no images, nor any religious ceremonies performed.[9]

The day passed on, and supper-time came; this meal was the same as the morning's: after it was over, and the room swept, an officer came in, and distributed rugs amongst us; one rug between two. These were a great improvement upon the mats, being soft to lie upon during the hot weather, and warm to cover us, in case of our remaining there the winter. At dark, the watch was set, the same as down at the jail, only here the noise was not so incessant; and indeed the watchmen very often fell asleep, and left us undisturbed a long time.

FOOTNOTE:[9]Note 8.

[9]Note 8.

Physician—Visitors—Day's employment—Taken before the mandarin—Letters and clothing from Chusan—Chinese clothes—Irons taken off—Return home—Salamanders—Amusements.

The next morning one of the Melville's boys was taken ill of the dysentery; the doctor came to see him, and prescribed some medicine, which came in the shape of a bitter brown mixture; it did him no good, for in a few days he grew so much worse, that he was removed down to the jail again, where, by-the-bye, the two marines who were ill had been left, as they were unable to bear the moving. Poor fellows! they felt very much being separated from their comrades, and left behind; but it was of no use complaining; they were obliged to submit. Asfor the boy[10]that was taken from us, (the same that I dragged out of the water when we were wrecked,) he left us, I might almost say, with a determination to die, so entirely did he despair; his forebodings were too true, as he died shortly after in the jail.

The window was besieged all day by well dressed persons, who came to see "the lions;" at first we only looked again, but getting bolder by degrees, we turned beggars, and from every fresh batch that came to the window, we requested something—either money, tobacco, or cakes, not being very particular: if they refused to give anything, we immediately slid the panels to, which most effectually prevented their seeing us, and the soldiers, our guard, very soon turned them out. Our grating was blockaded continually in this manner for more than a week, when the visitors ceased to come, and we were left in quietness.

Being in so crowded a state, and neverallowed to go out of the room, on any pretence whatever, the air soon became very unwholesome; and animals, the natural consequence of such a state of things, began to show themselves, and, in spite of our utmost exertions, increased upon us; so that if the warm weather, which was very favourable to them, should continue, we stood a fair chance of being devoured alive. But our deplorable condition fortunately raised up another nation, which, though living upon the same body, made desperate war upon the other creatures, and by this means they kept each other under. The principal employment in the morning was to overhaul our clothes, and kill all we could catch—a most disgusting way of passing the time, but yet most necessary; the rest of the day was spent either in walking up and down the room, spinning yarns, or sleeping.

After remaining in this place about a fortnight, we were one evening surprised by the appearance of the compradore, who came to ask if we wished to send to Chusan foranything, as he was going there. As I knew nobody there, and felt sure that Lieut. Douglas, who was as kind and attentive to us as opportunity allowed, would write, and acquaint the proper persons with our situation and wants, I did not write, neither did any of the others; he therefore went away, saying, that in about three weeks he hoped we should all be free; but he added, "Mandarin big rogue;" however, this was far better news than I expected, and I looked forward to his return with pleasure and anxiety.

Time passed on pretty well after this, and things were going on as usual; those who had been ill of dysentery on board the ship were gradually getting better, fear having worked wonders; when about a fortnight after the compradore's visit, we were roused one evening by a noise in the passage, whilst we were at supper. The board which had before attended us, again made its appearance, and as soon as we had finished our repast, all the white men were walked outof the room, and, after waiting a short time in the yard, sedans having been collected, we were placed in them, and carried to the chief mandarin's house. After passing through numerous streets, we arrived at a green plot railed in; against the railings were placed several small flags, some yellow and some red, but all having Chinese characters upon them. Passing through a gate, we came to a pair of large folding doors, on each fold of which was painted a gaudy figure, bearing a sword, and very much resembling the king of diamonds in our cards, only not half so good looking. On each side of this huge door was another smaller, through one of which we were taken, and here our sedans stopped, and we alighted. At the end of this new yard was a canopy of red and green silk as usual; we sat under this canopy until we were summoned before the mandarins. We were then led through a large place, which appeared intended for an ornamental garden, several rocks being placed here andthere, round which the path wound; but I saw no flowers, and very few green things of any description.

The room in which the mandarins were assembled, was rather a large chamber, open in front, as it was the hot season; several couches, and glazed arm-chairs, were arranged about the room; four large paper lanterns were suspended from the ceiling, and as the evening drew in, they, and many more placed in other parts of the room, were lighted. One or two more mandarins arriving, there was a great deal of bowing, and salaaming, and tea-drinking, after which they proceeded to business.

The compradore now made his appearance, and produced several letters, which he handed to me to read: on opening them, I found that they came from Chusan, with various articles of clothing, and other comforts for Lieut. Douglas and Captain Anstruther, clothes of all sorts for Mrs. Noble, and a quantity for the child which was drowned; but nothing whatever arrivedfor the crew; although Lieut. Douglas had written for necessary clothes for us, as well as for himself. I read the letters over to the compradore, making him understand, as well as I could, the nature of the contents, and he repeated them to the mandarins, whose official took them down in Chinese. When we had finished reading the letters, Mrs. Noble, Lieut. Douglas, Capt. Anstruther, and the mate, were brought in, and their letters given to them; they were also permitted to open their stores. We were now allowed to converse together for a short time. Until now, I had not been able to speak to Mrs. Noble since the wreck. The mandarins soon called us up, and told us, by the interpreter, that all was peace, and that in six days we should be sent down to Chusan; but, after giving us this agreeable intelligence, they inquired if we had any clothes for the cold weather, which would soon come on. I immediately said, "If we are going so soon to Chusan, we shall not require any of your clothes." They sentout, notwithstanding, and soon after a basket was brought in, containing our future raiment, which the mandarins distributed amongst our party. They gave to each man a large loose coat, and a pair of leggings, made of dungaree, and lined with cotton.

They were very warm and well calculated to keep out the cold, but very clumsy and heavy; still they were not to be refused, and indeed had it not been for this kindness of the mandarins, we should have been exposed, almost naked, to the approaching inclement season. But this anxiety to provide us with clothing for the cold weather, made me doubt very much whether six days, or even six weeks, would find us on our way to Chusan. As it turned out, it was exactly sixteen weeks from that day before we were released.

After another consultation amongst the mandarins, we were all called up again, and the irons taken off our legs, beginning with Mrs. Noble. This was a great relief, as our legs were quite stiff with their long confinement, and in most cases the iron had workedinto our flesh. Whilst they were being taken off, the compradore desired us to tell the Lascars, who had been left behind in the prison, that if they made no "bobberee," their irons would be taken off also.[11]

Being once more unfettered, we were again separated from Lieut. Douglas and his party, and led away to another room, the ceiling of which seemed very much inclined to come down on our heads. There was a table here, and a couch. I had no sooner taken my seat on the latter, than a well-dressed Chinese put writing materials before me, red paper, Indian ink, and a small brush. He made signs for me to write, salaaming low at the same time; I immediately complied with his request, and wrote a few lines for him. I had no sooner done this, and returned his brush, than he produced ahandful of pice, and presented them to me; my finances being very low indeed, this donation was not to be rejected; I therefore accepted them, and found he had given me between fifty and sixty pice, (about four pence in our money,)—very good pay, I thought, for writing half a dozen lines.

In this room refreshments were brought for us; hard-boiled eggs, fowls and pork cut into small pieces, and two sorts of cakes, one being plain, with small seeds on the top; the other very like dumplings, with minced pork inside. In fact, there was as much as we could eat, and all was good of the kind; at any rate, we completely demolished the good things, and then we returned to our sedans, and were carried back to our rooms. Here we found the Lascars anxiously awaiting our return; we told them that the mandarins said we were going to Chusan in six days, which good news raised their spirits very much, and they began to abuse the Chinese, especially the female part of the community,for having imprisoned them at all. The next day our jailer brought us shoes and stockings of Chinese manufacture, and made signs that the Lascars' clothes were being made, and would very soon be ready.

In the course of the same day, my friend of the previous night came and requested me to write something more for him; I of course consented, and he then produced some plain white fans; I wrote a few lines upon them, and he seemed much pleased with my performance; Wombwell also wrote on one for him. In return, he gave us two a basket full of sweet cakes, which were very acceptable; he came to see us several times afterwards, and never failed to bring some token of his gratitude with him.

Time wore away: the six days went by, and we were not released; some said they were perhaps waiting till the Lascars' jackets were ready, but they were brought, and we were still kept prisoners.

With the new clothes came also some of those horrid creatures by which we hadbeen tormented; these coming fresh from the tailors' hands, made us observe our guards a little more closely, and we could plainly discern that they were swarming with vermin. We were glad to find that what we had at first set down to our own dirt and unwholesomeness, was more attributable to the dirt and laziness of our jailers and other people. Even the walls had their inhabitants, for they fell down out of the rafters upon us.

Days and weeks passed on, and we gave up all hopes of a speedy release, expecting nothing less than an imprisonment of a year or two; but I cannot say that I was now much troubled with the fear of losing my head. During this time we were sometimes amused with a fight in the yard, between two of the soldiers—a most unpleasant kind of combat, for they seized hold of each other's tails with one hand, and dragging the head down almost to the ground, clawed and scratched with the other hand, till the one with the weakesttail rolled over and gave in; we always tried to get out and see fair play, but the soldiers mustered too strong at these times. Sometimes, again, a drunken soldier would make his appearance, and coming to the window afford us a little amusement, for, getting hold of his tail, we made it fast to the grating, and then left him to get loose as he could; generally one of his comrades, attracted by his bellowing, came and released him; all this was not very edifying employment, but it served to pass the time, which, having no books or employment, hung very heavily on our hands.

The weather now changed, and the winter set in; we were glad to put on our thick clothes, which we found very comfortable, except that they afforded a great harbour to the vermin: this was, however, by this time only a secondary consideration, as the cold weather had rendered them very torpid, and they did not bite so hard. We had only two meals a day, morning and evening, and these being soon settled, andnot being allowed anything in the middle of the day, we made bags of our old clothes, and at breakfast-time filled them with rice, when the servants were out of the room, and stowed them away for a mid-day meal. The servants discovered it once or twice, but we generally managed to secrete some rice from our breakfast.

The Chinese used now to carry about little teapots, full of hot water, at the spouts of which they were constantly sipping; and also a kind of salamander, an oblong brass vessel, with a handle to it, and filled with hot water; in the lid were several small holes, and the steam coming through kept them warm. They carried these things either in their long loose sleeves, or, sitting down, placed their feet upon them; but I should have imagined that the steam would have damped their clothes, and rather chilled than warmed them. About this time, having got rather free and easy with our jailers, one of our party slipped out into the passage, whilstthe servants were removing the rice and dishes, and brought in the piece of bamboo and stick, which the watch used at night; in the evening we saw the soldiers searching for it, but we kept quiet till dark, and then we began to keep watch ourselves; but the noise soon brought our jailer in, who took the bamboo away, threatening to put us in irons. This threat made but little impression, for, a short time after, another of the party walked off with a teapot belonging to one of the soldiers; this we kept for several days, till the owner found out where it was; but we would not give it up unless he paid for it, and as our jailer and his own comrades only laughed at him, we obliged him to redeem his teapot with a hundred or more pice, much to his dissatisfaction.

FOOTNOTES:[10]Theseboys, as they are called in the Navy, were all above one-and-twenty.[11]However, they did not take their irons off until just before our release. Indeed, they always made a marked difference between the white men and the men of colour, holding up the thumb to signify the former, and the little finger the latter.Note 9.

[10]Theseboys, as they are called in the Navy, were all above one-and-twenty.

[11]However, they did not take their irons off until just before our release. Indeed, they always made a marked difference between the white men and the men of colour, holding up the thumb to signify the former, and the little finger the latter.Note 9.

Language—Marine dies—Canton interpreter—Lieut. Douglas—Secret letters—Soap—Money—Christmas—Court-martial—Fires—Chinese dinner—Ladies' apartments.

One evening, about the latter end of November, we were surprised by the appearance of the moving board, and expected that we were to be taken away again, when, to our great amazement, one of the marines that we had left in the prison walked in, looking stout and well; but after him came, or rather was carried, the other, a most horrid spectacle, a moving skeleton, with the skin stretched tightly over his bones; his eyes were sunk deep in his head, and his voice was awfully hollow; he was the most melancholy sightI ever saw. When on board the ship he was a stout, well-made man, and now how dreadfully changed! he had come up merely to die with his old companions. The other had been very ill indeed, but (owing to a good constitution, and the kindness and attentions of Mrs. Noble, who did all that possibly lay in her power to alleviate their sufferings) he had got over his sickness, and was now in a fair way for recovery.[12]They brought notes from Lieut. Douglas and Mrs. Noble, promising us some money. The marines had received their pice, and ours were to come the next day, which they accordingly did; four hundred pice for each of the white men, and three hundred for each of the Lascars.

I now began to learn a little of the language, and found out the name of several things in the eating way; such as pork, beef, and all sorts of cakes, and the celebrated bird's-nest soup, which, by-the-bye, was uncommonly good; these things we wereenabled to buy with the money we had received.

This evening the doctor came and looked at the sick man, and shortly after his visit, one of the servants brought him a dose, which he took. That night this old servant was constantly at our window, with a lantern, to look at the sick person. Towards morning the marine became much worse, and lost his senses, and soon after he died. He was no sooner dead than the servant, who had been watching very narrowly at the window, came in, and rolling the body up in a long coat, and taking it by the arms, threw it on his back, and making signs for one of the Melville's boys to keep the legs off the ground, they walked off with him through the gate, and some way into the town, till they came to an open space, where there was a shed with some straw in it. Here he laid the body down, and covering it decently with the coat, made the boy understand that it would be buried that night.

There were now only two left of the sevenmarines who came on board of the Kite from the Melville; and it was not long before one of these was taken ill; he soon became so bad, that he was obliged to be moved out of our room, and we hoped he might be taken down to the jail, where he would have better attendance, and the advantage of Mrs. Noble's kindness. Our jailer and attendants made signs to this effect, but they moved him only to another part of the joshouse. He had received several spear-wounds when he was taken, which had never properly healed; and when attacked by the dysentery, these wounds broke out afresh, and reduced him to a dreadful state, and it was not long before we heard of his death. There was now only one marine left.

A short time after this, a new interpreter, who had just arrived, as he said, from Canton, came up to us; he brought us two letters to read, one from Mrs. Noble, and the other from Captain Anstruther, to their friends at Chusan, requesting to have some clothes and other things sent to them.This man told us that it would most likely be peace, and that we should be released in a short time. We complained of the smallness of our room, and of our having nothing but rice to eat, and said we wished to have meat sometimes; he agreed that it was a most uncomfortable place, and promised to speak to the mandarins, and get all things put to rights for us. He then left us, I cannot say with revived hopes, for we placed but little reliance on his assurances, being by this time fully aware of the deceitfulness of the Chinese. He told us, however, that either Captain Anstruther or Lieut. Douglas would come to see us in a few days.

On this point he did not deceive us; for two or three days after his visit, Lieut. Douglas, to our great pleasure, walked in: he was very indignant at the treatment we had received, and at our being confined in such a miserable place, and said he would get it altered immediately. We learned from him, that though the mandarinspressed the officers to write to their friends at Chusan, and promised that the letters should be safely conveyed, they had never kept to their word, but had detained the letters when they had obtained possession of them; perhaps as curiosities. The officers at Chusan, finding that the prisoners at Ningpo did not write, suspected the cause to be something of this kind, and therefore bribed a Chinese to carry letters from them to Lieut. Douglas and the others; and they answered them by the same person. They asked for all they wanted, in their letters by the Chinaman, and always mentioned the same things in those that were given to the mandarins, so that these gentlemen imagined the English were conjurors, or some such thing; for with all their cunning they never found out the spy, and the things that were written for, through them, always came, although they never sent the letters. Lieut. Douglas, therefore, knew all that was passing at Chusan, and could tell us what chancethere was of our being speedily released. He told us he had tried several times to get up to see us, but that the mandarins would not allow him to come. He had sent us several things, and amongst the rest a bar of soap; but none of these things arrived, I suppose the Chinese ate the soap; as they have no such article themselves, they would most likely imagine it to be some eatable; and as they are in the habit of eating far nastier things, the soap might have been rather a delicacy to them than otherwise. After some more conversation, he gave us a dollar apiece to procure us better and more substantial food, and then left us, promising to see us soon again, and to improve our situation.

Lieut. Douglas continued to supply us with money, at the rate of a dollar apiece for fourteen days; but the persons who brought it to us generally pocketed one or two dollars each time, and altogether robbed us of nine dollars; a large sum in that country, where the necessaries of lifeare so cheap. The proper exchange, I believe, is rather more than a thousand pice to the dollar, but we could only get nine hundred and thirty-two, or at most nine hundred and fifty.

Christmas was now close at hand, and we accordingly bought some meat and other things, that we might not eat such an un-Englishlike dinner as rice, turnips, and very small fish, our usual food; and with a little coaxing on our part, we prevailed on the old jailer to allow us to have some samshu, a liquor very like gin, and obtained from rice. We made a better Christmas of it than I had expected, and after our dinner we called our jailer in, and drank his health, to his great delight; in fact, he was so much pleased, that he ran out of our room, and immediately returned, bringing with him a haunch of goat, which he said "he gave to us;" and was going to hang it up in our room, but we deemed it expedient to place it in the outer air, so he hung it up outside, and we had it for dinnerthe next day. From this time we were allowed to have as much samshu as we liked; and with the exception of one Lascar getting drunk, no one ever forgot himself. The Lascar, when he came to his senses in the morning, we tried by court-martial, and sentenced him to receive three dozen, which were administered with a cat made for the purpose, of threads twisted and plaited together.

The marine was now the only Englishman in irons, and notwithstanding the mandarins had promised Lieut. Douglas, in consequence of his remonstrances, that they should be taken off, they had as usual deceived him; so one day we took them off ourselves, and lifting up one of the floor planks in a corner of the room, hid them there. This we were enabled to effect the more easily, as they had been taken off when he was at the jail, to allow him to put on a pair of flushing trousers Lieut. Douglas had given him; and therefore they were not rivetted, but merely padlockedtogether. The Chinese never noticed that his irons were off, and they were left in the hole as a legacy to the rats.

One evening, whilst at our supper, one of the soldiers came to the window, and amused himself by imitating our awkward attempts to eat with the chopsticks. This impertinence so incensed one of our men, that he jumped up, and filling a basin with water, dashed it through the bars into the soldier's face, taking him quite by surprise; the water streamed down his breast, inside his numerous jackets, and must have made him most uncomfortable. But his only revenge was swearing and shaking his fist at us as he ran away. Finding that no harm arose from this first attempt, we determined never to be annoyed again, regretting that we had allowed ourselves to be overlooked so long; therefore all parties that would not pay for peeping, we drove away by throwing water at them; and having a bucketful in the room, the water was always at hand. Our proceedingsamused the old jailer exceedingly, and he very often brought people to see us, and then getting behind them, made signs for us to throw the water in their faces; taking care, however, always to get out of reach of the shower, and to condole with the visitors, who generally received a good ducking.

It was now January, and we had some very cold weather, and several falls of snow; our jailer, therefore, allowed us sometimes to have a small earthenware pot, in which was some mould, and on the top a few pieces of charcoal; this, of course, was soon expended, so, to keep up the fire, we tore out the bars of the door, and part of the flooring, and burnt them. These were the only things I saw in use at the joshouse in lieu of fire-places.

Our room was too crowded for us to feel the cold much, but still it was rather chilly; so, to keep ourselves warm, we ran round and round our apartment, played at leapfrog, and such other games, which kept theblood from freezing in our veins; besides, we bought pipes and tobacco, and constantly smoked, which warmed us a little, and probably prevented sickness getting in amongst us; this was a great advantage, for if any fever had broken out, we might all have been carried off, from the extreme unwholesomeness of our apartment. We could see the old officer, who lived in the room next ours, sitting, for hours together, in his yard, basking in the sun, and smoking a long pipe; wrapped up in two or three dresses, made of skins sown together, and wearing a curious kind of head-dress, resembling the cap worn by jesters in the olden time, only minus the bells.

Soon after Lieut. Douglas's visit, Wombwell and I were sent for by the mandarins; thanks to the person for whom we had written on the fans, as he came with the servants, and pointed us out. On arriving at the mandarin's, we found the Canton interpreter, with several letters and boxes from Chusan. The letters contained thegood news that peace was concluded; this information, coming from English authority, was the more likely to be true, and of course gave me greater pleasure. The interpreter wished me to explain the letters, which I did, making him understand our expressions as well as I could; I then told him to whom the boxes belonged. Wombwell and I were kept separate, and, after interpreting one letter, I was sent away, and Wombwell brought in, to give his interpretation. This way of proceeding of course took a long time; so that we were there nearly all day. About noon a small table was brought in, upon which they placed refreshments for us; cold meat cut into small pieces, hard boiled eggs, cakes, and a metal jug containing about a quart of samshu. This came in very happily, and the interpreting went on with fresh vigour.

Once, when I retired whilst Wombwell was giving his version of a letter, I was taken to an officer's rooms, and saw him and three others at dinner; but,notwithstanding my signs to that purpose, they would not allow me to share it with them. In the centre of the table was a large bowl, with a heater in the middle of it, containing a rich soup, full of vegetables and meat, cut into very small pieces. Around this were several large plates, containing pork and fowls cut up, the bones having been taken out, pickled fish and vegetables in a rich thick gravy; two small plates, one containing salted shrimps, and the other, something exactly like sea-weed, and also a small basin, filled with a white lard, into which the officers dipped their chopsticks, and taking out a small quantity, mixed it with their rice. The rice, which was very fine and white, was in a small wooden bucket; from which the servants gave their masters a fresh supply, when their basins were empty. The chopsticks were made of a hard black polished wood, something like ebony; and the basins and plates were of that beautiful transparent China ware which we esteem so highly, with figures andflowers painted on them, in most brilliant colours. Two servants stood behind their master's chairs, and waited upon them with the assiduity of European servants. When the officers had finished, the servants took their places, and made their dinner off the remains. They followed their masters' example in excluding me from their repast; though they very readily gave me cups of hot water, which I suppose they called tea, as I could discern two or three leaves at the bottom of the cup.

Having now nothing to do, I went to the entrance, and on looking out, I observed, opposite to me, a building, from which proceeded a Babel of voices, and seeing a little girl come out of the door, I thought I would take the opportunity, whilst the officers were in another apartment, and the servants intent upon their supper, to walk over, and see what was in this place; so on the girl's return, I followed her; but was noticed too soon by the ladies inside, who no sooner saw me than they jumped up, and slammed thedoor in my face, setting up most dreadful shrieks, which brought the officers out, who immediately ran over to me, and led me back, laughing heartily at the same time; so that my attempt to see a Chinese lady's apartment was frustrated.

I now returned to the interpreter, and having finished our task, the small table was again placed before us, furnished in the same manner as before; so that we could not complain of their want of hospitality.

The mandarin, a fat jolly-looking old gentleman, asked me, through the interpreter, whether we ever had any snow in our country; and seemed very much surprised when I told him, we had far more than was then on the ground; he was very much taken with the appearance of my blue flannel shirt, which I was then wearing: but as it was my warmest piece of clothing, I could not afford to make him a present of it. The room we were in was very nicely furnished; with painted arm-chairs, a few couches, with soft cushions,small tables, inlaid with different kinds of woods, several handsome China vases, and a small English clock in a wooden case, inlaid with brass. The ceiling was painted buff colour, and varnished; and from it were suspended four large ornamented lanterns. There were neither rushes nor mats on the floor, but merely the bare boards, and these by no means too clean.

When we reached home (as we were obliged to call our miserable prison) it was quite dark, and we found all the others had lain down. We communicated the happy news we had learned from the letters, and then followed their example.

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