Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843

CHAPTER XXI

The intense anxiety which took possession of every one's mind at Canton, on the evening of the expected attack upon our vessels by the Chinese, as described at the close of the last chapter, has not by any means been exaggerated. The very uncertainty of the plans of the Chinese served to increase the interest felt, and the extreme darkness of the night gave the greatest cause for apprehension of treachery.

During the early part of the evening complete stillness prevailed; nothing whatever betokened an immediate attack. It was about eleven o'clock when the alarm was given. One of the sentries of the Modeste, which was a little in advance of the other vessels,⁴⁴ first discovered several large, dark-looking masses dropping down with the stream. Being hailed by the sentry, the Chinese who had charge of them immediately set fire to the combustible materials which they contained. The flames, bursting forth suddenly, spread the alarm, and pointed out the danger to the other vessels, while it was still remote. There was a general beat to quarters; steam was rapidly got up on board the Nemesis, the fires having been lighted early in the evening; the anchor was weighed, and, in the short space of NINE MINUTES from the time the alarm was given, the Nemesis was under weigh, and under command of the helm.

The premature discovery of the design, before it was actually commenced, disconcerted the plans of the Chinese, and caused them to set fire to the rafts sooner than had been intended. The derangement of a grand scheme at its outset embarrasses all the subsequent details, and is apt to discourage all those who are employed to carry them into execution. The moment they cease to act in concert, the failure of every part of the scheme is certain. Thus, on the present occasion, in consequence of some of the fire-rafts being ignited too soon, the greater part of the rest were not ignited at all; so that, out of the immense number, about a hundred, which had been prepared, not above ten or a dozen were set on fire or sent down against our vessels at Canton. Some, however, were sent adrift against the Alligator, at anchor near Howqua's Fort.

These fire-rafts were ingeniously constructed to effect their object, being composed of boats chained together in twos and threes, so that, drifting down with the stream, they might hang across the bows of a ship, so as not to be easily got clear. They were filled with all kinds of combustible materials. Numerous junks and smaller boats were barely seen in the distance higher up the river, said to have a large body of troops on board, for the purpose of trying to board our ships during the confusion which it was expected would take place. But the moment they found that they were likely to meet with a warm reception, they did their best to get away again as fast as they could.

The Nemesis ran up at full speed towards the fire-rafts, in order to assist the boats of the squadron in towing them away.⁴⁵ Many of them, however, drifted fairly on shore, and set fire to the suburbs of the town, causing much greater alarm to the Chinese than they did to those whom they were designed to annihilate. It was a grand spectacle, in the sullen darkness of the night, to see these floating masses of fire drifting about the river, and shewing, by their own reflected light, the panic-stricken parties of Chinese who had charge of them, trying to escape towards the shore, which few of them were destined to reach. Some threw themselves overboard, were carried down the stream, and their struggles were soon ended; others were shot at random by our musketry, the moment they were discovered by our men, betrayed by the light of the fires they had themselves kindled.

So far the Chinese scheme proved a total failure. Nor was the attempt more successful upon the Alligator, off Howqua's Fort. The attack was to have been simultaneously made upon all our ships in different parts of the river, both at Whampoa and at the Bogue; but, owing to some error, or more probably, the premature explosion of their plan at Canton, the attack on the Wellesley, at the Bogue, did not take place until nearly midnight of the 24th, three days afterwards. It was, however, well concerted, and very formidable, as it comprised a flotilla of little less than twenty vessels, chained in twos and threes; many of these had gunpowder as well as other combustibles on board. It was not without great exertion of Commander Fletcher and the few officers and men remaining on board (most of them being absent on service under Capt. Maitland, with the advanced squadron) that they were towed clear of the ship, by the only three boats she had left. In no instance was any damage done to our ships.

But the plan of the Chinese was not limited to their exploits with fire-rafts. The new batteries before spoken of, as having been erected by Yih-shan, just above Canton, towards the river side, opened a heavy fire upon our ships, just when it was imagined they would have been embarrassed by the fire-vessels. The artillery now began to roar on both sides, although, owing to the midnight darkness, it was solely directed by the flashing of each others guns.

The Nemesis had now run so close in shore, that she was able clearly to distinguish, by the light of the batteries and the reflection of the fire in the suburbs, the different Tartar officers rallying and encouraging their men to fight the guns. The two small vessels which lay off the Factories (the Louisa and Aurora) were at one time in imminent danger, as the Chinese had actually brought down to the river side a very large gun, and planted it within good range, to blow them out of the water. They could not be moved until the tide turned; but, by alternately veering out cable and shortening it in again, so as to alter the range and balk the Chinese gunners during the darkness, they managed to escape with trifling damage. In the morning they were moved out of danger with the turn of tide. At intervals, the firing was kept up until daylight.

At length, the sun rose brightly upon the scene of midnight encounter; and now, the wrecks of the still burning fire-vessels, the crumbling batteries on shore, the suburbs of the town in flames, the deserted river, and some trifling damages on board one or two of our own vessels, bore witness to what had happened.

The attack upon the Shameen battery was now renewed, and it was soon silenced by the fire of the vessels. A few shot and shell were thrown into the adjoining suburbs, where the fire had broken out; but some of the Chinese soldiers, who had already abandoned their guns, when they found that our men did not land immediately to take possession of the works, actually returned and fired another round or two from the Shameen battery. They were soon, however, driven out, and eight fine large brass guns were captured.

It was during these operations at Canton, that Capt. Elliot and Capt. Herbert narrowly escaped a very dangerous accident, which might have proved fatal to many, had it not been fortunately averted by the personal coolness and resolution of the captain of the Nemesis. A Congreve rocket, which had been placed in the proper tube from which it is fired, and had been already ignited, accidentally hung within it, instead of being projected, as intended. In another second it would have burst in the tube itself, and must have killed or wounded all those who were standing near it upon the bridge between the paddle-boxes. With instant coolness and presence of mind, Capt. Hall put his arm into the tube and forcibly pushed it out from behind, although the rush of fire which came out of it burnt his hand severely and caused intense pain. Indeed, it was not done without great personal risk. It is difficult to calculate what disastrous results might not have followed, had the rocket burst in the tube, on board ship.

Just when all opposition at the Shameen battery had been overcome, an unlooked-for opportunity occurred of rendering signal service, by the discovery of the principal rendezvous of all the fire-rafts and men-of-war junks, whose place of retreat had hitherto been concealed. Every fresh report had confirmed the previous information that preparations of an extensive kind had been made by the Chinese higher up the river, but it was supposed to be at some place much more distant than was now found to be the case. The first thing which led to the discovery was the suspicious appearance of a large war-junk, which suddenly came out from behind a point of land some way above the fort. Having fired one or two distant shots, she again withdrew out of sight.

The Nemesis instantly proceeded in search of the expected prize, under the orders of Captain Herbert, who was on board. The junk again stole out from her hiding-place, but, the moment she observed the steamer coming towards her, she made off in all haste up a large creek, which turned round to the northward. About a mile or less within this passage, the whole Chinese fleet of war-junks, fire-rafts, boats, &c., was suddenly descried, to the number, probably, of more than a hundred.

This was an exciting moment. The Chinese were thrown into the utmost consternation by the sudden approach of the steamer; and the more numerous were the junks and craft of all kinds, the greater was the confusion into which they were thrown. Every shot now told upon the confused mass. The Chinese ran most of their boats ashore, in order to make their own escape; others tried to make their way up the creek, each one striving to pass the other. Suddenly a small masked battery opened fire upon the steamer; but a few round shot, followed by grape, drove the Chinese from their guns, and served to disperse a small body of troops, who were drawn up in the rear. The water soon became too shallow for the steamer to proceed further, and she, therefore, came to anchor.

Some boats from the Calliope and Herald and other vessels now joined, and, together with the boats of the Nemesis, continued the pursuit, and destroyed or run ashore an immense number of junks, fire-rafts, and fishing-boats of every kind.

About fifty boats were found filled with combustibles, and were joined eight or nine together, having been destined to drift down with the tide upon our vessels. Many of the junks had troops on board, from distant parts of the empire, intended for the relief of the city.

The scene was extremely animating; numbers of the Chinese were scrambling ashore, or clinging to fragments of their boats or spars, as they floated about in the water. Some of the junks were burnt, and others blown up, but the precaution was taken to examine carefully every one of them before it was set on fire, in order to rescue any of the panic-stricken Chinese who might be trying to find concealment in it. But, in spite of this precaution, the structure of the junks afforded so many little hiding places for the terrified Chinese, that, as the fires gradually burnt more briskly, and took more certain effect upon the vessels, several poor fellows were observed to rush up from below, and then, unable to support the heat upon deck, to jump desperately overboard. Some of these swam easily on shore; others, who could not swim, remained clinging to the outside of the junk, or to the rudder, until the heat became insupportable, or the vessel itself blew up. In this way, some few necessarily perished, for it was not possible to save them all, owing to the small number of boats employed on our side, and the large number of those destroyed on theirs; besides which, the heat and danger were often too great to be able to approach near enough to render timely assistance.

Thus, in the short space of three hours, forty-three war-junks were blown up, and thirty-two fire-rafts destroyed, besides smaller boats. Some which had been run ashore were left untouched.

This important encounter produced one very valuable result, as it led to the discovery of the most desirable landing-place for our troops, in the projected attack on the heights of Canton. This spot was distinctly seen and remarked upon by the different officers on board the Nemesis, and was particularly noticed by Captain Herbert, in his report of this affair to Sir Le Fleming Senhouse, written on the very same day. This is not a matter of slight moment, because all allusion to this circumstance was omitted in the public despatch of Sir Le Fleming Senhouse. In Captain Herbert's report, dated on the 22nd of May, on board the Nemesis, that officer, after having described the destruction of the numerous boats and fire-rafts, distinctly said: – "Their wrecks are lining both banks of the river nearly close up to Tsingpoo, the landing-place, from which a good approach appears to lead direct to the north gate of the city wall, not more than four miles distant, with dry footing the whole way." He also intimated that artillery might probably be brought there. Moreover, while Captain Hall was lying in bed with pain and fever from his disabled hand, the general himself and other officers subsequently came down into his cabin, purposely to make inquiry concerning the landing-place and the country about it, such as it had been seen from the Nemesis.

On the following day, the 23rd, the Sulphur, under Captain Belcher, having with him the Druid's launch, and several other boats, proceeded into the same creek in which Captain Herbert had found the landing-place the day before, and destroyed one or two junks and rafts which had been left the previous day, and some others which had returned after their first escape. Five junks and thirteen small boats were destroyed. The practicable landing-place at Tsingpoo was also reported on by that officer, and he added that he got himself hoisted up to the mast-head of a junk, sextant in hand, to get a look at the country, and observed the enemy encamped on the verge of a hill, but that he "had not the slightest doubt that they would have fled, had he advanced towards the hill." As it was, however, he was content with landing at the temple at Tsingpoo, and, throwing into the river the five guns of the little masked battery which had opened on the Nemesis the day before, and had been silenced by her fire, but which Captain Herbert had not thought it worth his while to destroy, as the war-junks and fire-rafts claimed his more immediate attention.

Captain Belcher hastened down to the Blenheim the same evening, and reported what he had done to Sir Le Fleming Senhouse, "who," he says, (see Voyage of the Sulphur, p. 184 to 187,) "had been sitting up for him, and seemed delighted beyond measure at what he heard."

To return to the Nemesis, as she came back towards the Factories, from the scene of her exploits at Tsingpoo on the previous day. The remarks of a gentleman who was at Canton at the time are curious enough. Speaking of what occurred, he says: – "From time to time loud explosions were heard in that direction [Tsingpoo]; dense volumes of smoke rose up continually, both black and white, and announced some terrible work of destruction. After some time a general cheer burst forth from all those who were near me, as the Nemesis came in sight, just rounding the corner on her return, towing several boats after her towards the Macao passage. It was an interesting and even ludicrous sight, as she approached, to observe the boats, as well as the vessel itself, decked out with Chinese flags, the men exhibiting their trophies with evident pride, some rigged out in every variety of Chinese dress, from mandarins downwards; some with Chinese caps, and others with Chinese tails, with which a whole boat's crew were decorated. It appears that, when they took prisoners, they merely cut off their tails, (a mark of deep disgrace to a Chinaman,) and let them go again about their business."

But the day was by no means ended yet; and, indeed, the business had commenced so early, (at dawn,) that even at this time it was little more than eight o'clock. And now comes a scene of a very different kind. I have before stated, that the guard of marines had been withdrawn from the Factory, and the flag struck on the previous day. A vast quantity of property had already been removed, but much still remained, of considerable value, and much more was supposed to be left behind of still greater importance. All this became an object of longing to the mob, to say nothing of any natural feeling of hostility, which was ready to vent itself upon something or other. Pillage now became the order of the day. It is said even that a party of Chinese soldiers were first sent down expressly to search for arms. Of these they found none; but there were still enough of other things to tempt their avarice. They had certainly the first choice of the booty, although the general mob speedily joined in the general ransack. Several of the officers, or low mandarins, were seen to be quite as busy as the rest of the people, some even carrying away plunder upon their horses, and others who had none sending for them on purpose.

Readers who can picture to themselves the long, gloomy labyrinths of passages, and alleys, and staircases, which are comprised within the piles of buildings called the Factories, can well imagine the terrible scene of riot, destruction, and pillage, which was going on; yet, probably, not worse than would have been committed by an English mob under similar circumstances; as Bristol, Birmingham, and other places can testify. There was a reckless destruction of property which could not be removed, even after every article of furniture as well as merchandise had been carried away. Doors and windows were soon disposed of, and the very staircases and stone floorings were broken up and destroyed.

In the Old Company's or British Factory, the confusion was most terrible, because in it there remained a greater number of valuable objects to destroy. The beautiful chandeliers and fine looking-glasses were soon annihilated and carried off piecemeal; and the noble large marble statue which stood in the great hall served as an object of especial vengeance, as if it contained within itself the very germs or symbols of all the barbarian nations of the earth, and could communicate to them a portion of the insults now heaped upon it as it lay prostrate in the hall.

During the whole day, the same mad scene of destruction was continued; and whatever still defied the hands of the infuriate mob was at length made to yield to the consuming power of fire. Not all the thirteen Hongs, however, were visited with this terrible pillage; many of them escaped altogether, which is somewhat remarkable; but all those situated between the limits of Hog Lane and a small creek which runs into the river at the other end, were entirely destroyed, except the bare walls. Within this space were included the British, together with the Dutch and the Creek Factories, a very fine and extensive range of handsome buildings.

Towards the close of the day, when the work of destruction was nearly completed, down came, at length, the prefect of the city in person, attended by a large party of police. He now succeeded in driving away the main body of the mob, and then gave charge of the Factories to the Hong merchants, to whom all the buildings belonged, and who took possession of the little that remained, with the assistance of a number of their own hired labourers, armed for the occasion.

The account given of this day's proceedings by a highly respectable American merchant, who imprudently remained behind the night before, is extremely valuable. Without going into minute details, it will suffice to mention, that Mr. Coolidge was taken prisoner, after being in great danger of being cut down, and was, with many insults, carried into the heart of the city. As he was marched along, he passed several bodies of soldiers and coolies, or day-labourers, hurrying down towards the Factories, and dragging guns along with them. As soon as he came near the head-quarters of the Tartar general, the crowd and movement increased; officers of every grade, grooms and messengers on horseback, hurrying to and fro, executioners and city-guards, together with strange troops from distant provinces, in every variety of costume – these were all huddled together, and jostled in the greatest bustle and confusion.

After some delay, he was carried, with every possible insult, before the criminal judge, and there, to his horror, he discovered several of his countrymen, who had been wounded and captured as they were trying to escape in a boat down the river. The sufferings and indignities they now underwent were extreme; nor did their assertion, that they were Americans, prove of much service to them, for they were told that, in that case, they "ought to speak a different language, and wear a different dress."

It is very certain, however, that the Chinese generally at Canton know perfectly well the difference between an American and an Englishman, politically. But, on the other hand, when an Englishman gets into trouble there, he most commonly declares himself to be an American; and how could the Chinese prove that he is not so? But the national distinction is perfectly well defined, even in their own language, as is commonly known; the Americans being called the "people of the flowery flag," from the number of stars on it, while the English were known as the "red people," or "red-haired people," an appellation originally applied to the Dutch traders.

The American prisoners remained in the condition I have described, exposed to every possible suffering in the common prison, for nearly two days, when they were at length turned out, and carried in chairs to the ruined Factories, where they were planted among the ruins, just as if they had been portions of the marble statue which had been destroyed.

It was just at this time that our troops landed – namely, the Cameronians, under Major Pratt, (as will be presently seen,) – and, of course, every attention was paid to the unhappy sufferers; and, as Mr. Coolidge observes, "I cannot tell you with what feelings of good-will we looked upon every one of those redcoats."

Soon after mid-day, while the work of destruction was going on at the Factories, Captain Elliot and Captain Herbert proceeded with all speed down to Whampoa, in order to make arrangements for the hasty advance of the whole force, which was nearly all there assembled, not far from Whampoa. Captain Elliot, however, could not forego the pleasure of giving a parting proclamation to the Chinese, even then. He told the people of Canton, "that their city had twice been spared, but that his agreement with the three commissioners had now been violated by them, by the arming of their forts, and by their secret preparations to attack the English, who were the real protectors of the city." He called upon them "to remember the hour of battle, and to consider whether the troops of the other provinces now among them were not the real scourges of the inhabitants;" and, after a little more in the same compassionate strain, he wound up by calling upon them "to turn out the commissioners and their troops from the city within twelve hours, otherwise that the English would be obliged to withdraw their protection from the city, and take military possession of it, confiscating all the property to the Queen of England."

This must have sounded highly gratifying to the Chinese; quite in the Oriental style; and it was exceedingly probable that the mob of Canton would have the power, even had they the will, to turn out about twenty thousand troops, together with the high authorities, all in the twinkling of an eye, by a sort of talismanic "Open sesame!"

The storm was now gathering thicker and thicker every hour; our forces were all by this time concentrated within a few short miles of the city; delay was no longer possible; and the moment appeared inevitably come, though long delayed, when the Chinese authorities must yield to force, where "reason" and negotiation had been tried in vain, and written instruments had failed.

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