Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army

In our regular military hospital were several Tartar soldiers, some of them severely wounded, who had been picked up on the field of battle by our establishments, and now treated like our own men. In due time they recovered from their injuries as far as art could effect their restoration; they came to appreciate the comforts of their position so much that among their numbers no anxiety was expressed to be discharged. Application was made to the Chinese local authorities to receive them. The reply by them was to the effect that “the men having fallen in battle, they were officially dead; there being no precedent of dead men coming to life again, they could in no way recognise or acknowledge them.” A liberal sum of money was subscribed by us for them; it was distributed among them; they were then, with military formalities, handed over to the local authorities, to be by them sent on to the care of the British Representative at Pekin. Before being so disposed of, they were seen by the bishop already mentioned. To his question, “What do you now think of the Barbarian doctors?” the answer given by one was that he could no longer fight as an infantry soldier, but he might do so as a cavalry man; by a second, that “he had been left upon the field dead, his wife a widow, his children orphans. By the care shown to him, he had been lifted up from death, fitted to return to and work for those dependent upon him; nor had he breath in his chest sufficient to express his gratitude for it all.”

Among the inmates of the hospitals pertaining to our force were some of the Sikhs who, during the advance of the army on Pekin, had the misfortune to be taken prisoners, and subsequently subjected to cruelties as already mentioned. Their wrists bore large cicatrices, marking the position of the cords with which they had been so tightly bound that ulcers in which maggots crawled were results, the agony so great that several of their companions in misery had become delirious, and died under it. On September 18, a party of eighteen, including an officer, all of Fane’s Horse, were taken prisoners; of them the officer and eight sowars succumbed under the atrocious cruelties to which they were subjected, the remaining nine being now in hospital.233 But it would serve no good purpose to give particulars in regard to these sad occurrences.

Our French allies suffered in health during the period of greatest cold to an extent even greater than did our own men, the circumstance being readily accounted for by the fact that the former were insufficiently provided with warm clothing; indeed, many of them were dressed as when on board the transport ship in which several months previous they had been brought, via the Red Sea, to China. Whereas with us, every honour was shown at the burial of such soldiers as succumbed to the circumstances of our position, no such formality was seen by any of us in the quarter occupied by the French; but as day by day the black wooden crosses increased in number in their cemetery, these silent tokens told that they too had the hand of death among them. A temple had been converted by the French into a military hospital; the sick accommodated therein well cared for, its administration altogether under the Intendance, the duties of medical officers limited to professional attendance on the patients. Among the latter was a soldier who bore marks precisely like those of our own men already alluded to as having been made prisoners and tortured, he having been of their party.

While the winter cold was most intense an epidemic of small-pox raged among the native Chinese, and to a less degree among both the British and French portions of our combined force. In the latter, General Collineau, its commanding officer, was an early victim. As he expressed himself before he lost consciousness, it was hard that after having escaped the dangers of various campaigns, including thirty battles, he should come to Tientsin to die of such a disease. He entered the army as a private soldier, obtained each succeeding step for services in the field, culminating in that of general officer for the Italian campaign.

Our British soldiers suffered severely in health, and, what was remarkable, to a greater extent than did the Sikhs, although the latter paid less attention to warm clothing and care of their persons in other respects than the British soldier. Our officers were affected variously; the younger, and those who had not undergone tropical service, enjoyed the cold weather immensely; but with those of us who had but recently undergone the wear and tear incidental to the Mutiny campaign, things were very different, the severity of the winter cold inducing among us serious illness.

CHAPTER XXII

1861. TIENTSIN. CHEFOO. NAGASAKI. DEVONPORT

Fraternity of beggars – Relief fund – A Buddhist nunnery – A Buddhist temple – Ancestral worship – A pantheistic mosque – A Chinese dinner – An opium den – A missionary plan – Postal arrangements – Remittances – Vegetation – Birds – Mr. Bruce proceeds to Pekin – Camp formed – The Spirit of Fire – French “ideas” – “Sheep grows its own wool” – Taipings – Sir John Mitchell – Sickness among troops – Emperor dies – Trip to Chefoo – Town and vicinity – Taoist temple – Resume duty – The force breaking up – Nagasaki – Places visited – Embark – Homeward bound – Aden – Cairo and Alexandria – Death of Prince Consort – Devonport.

The Fraternity of Beggars constitutes one of the institutions peculiar to Tientsin, the numbers of mendicants to be met with being very great indeed, comprising old and young, fat and lean, the healthy, the deformed, and the diseased. One particular class are to be seen almost devoid of clothing on the upper part of their persons, even in the coldest weather, when the thermometer ranges from zero to a few degrees above, the use of thick clothing and furs by most people considered indispensable; yet that their health in no way suffered from such exposure was evident by their appearance. Another notable class represent to some degree the order Flagellants, their appeals for charity emphasized by a series of self-inflicted blows on their bodies by means of a piece of wood or a brick-bat. These several classes live in communities, one of which I visited. In a wretched hut, in coldest winter, destitute of fire, thirty-five men, all in a state of nudity, were huddled together, having a cubic space per head of 57 feet. The atmosphere was foul and offensive, the inmates for the most part strong, and to all appearance healthy. Here, as in China generally, the rule that “once a beggar, always a beggar,” has few, if indeed any, exceptions.

An attempt was made to relieve some of the poverty and distress which were so prominently before our eyes. For this purpose a fund was established, a sum of eight hundred dollars being collected among the officers of the force; the subject was brought to the notice of the Chinese officials and wealthier classes in the city, the result being that they not only refused to aid the work, but opposed it in various ways. Finally, notices were issued that the sum collected would be distributed at the house used as a “church” by our troops; a guard of soldiers was mounted to preserve order, and at the hour appointed seven thousand applicants for relief had collected. Unhappily the crush speedily became greater than the guard was capable of resisting; in the pressure of the crowd a number of persons, chiefly women and children, were trodden under foot, several crushed to death, and of those less severely injured fifteen were carried into hospital.

As winter advanced, sickness among our troops increased to such a degree that various yamens or other buildings had in succession to be hired for that purpose. On such occasions, in addition to the officers specially concerned in making the selection, some representative city (Chinese) officials, the whole party under the protection of our own military police, made an inspection of the buildings most suitable for our purpose, after which an application was duly made for the particular one fixed upon. On an occasion of this kind, Captain C. E. Gordon, R.E., who shortly afterwards was to become so prominent a character in Chinese, and subsequently in Egyptian, war-history, formed, as usual, one of the party alluded to. In the course of our excursion we came to what from the outside appeared to be an eligible enclosure for our purpose. A series of loud knocks at the outer door brought to it a neatly attired and rather good-looking boy, as we at first supposed, whose manner of receiving us was the very reverse of polite. He was quickly brushed aside; our party was in act of entering, when our Chinese escort intimated the fact – up till that moment unexpressed – that we were forcing our way into a Buddhist nunnery, against the expressed objection of a nun. Our regret was real; explanations were exchanged; we were informed that the community within adopted male costume as an indication that they not only renounced the world, but with it the emblems of their sex. We were “received” by the Lady Superior, tea and cakes offered to and partaken of by us; we were then permitted to visit the “private chapel,” and finally we parted from the religieuses on the best of terms. Needless to say, their establishment from that time forward was by us held sacred.

A visit was made to “The Temple of Future Punishments.” That temple comprises a series of buildings, the entrance to the general enclosure in which they are situated having on either side a stone figure of a dog, probably the Buddhistic ideal Cerberus. Within the several buildings well-executed clay figures represented the subjects of departed spirits, undergoing all the forms and degrees of punishment to which evil Buddhists were condemned, the whole reminding us, on the one hand, of those described in “The Vision of Meerza,” and, on the other, of illustrations contained in at least one publication by the Roman Catholic Church. Among the various forms of punishment so illustrated was that of crucifixion; another illustration included the humpless bullock, as if relating to the worship of Isis and Osiris; a third presented the rites of the Indian Chukkur Poojah, and so on.

On visiting an old Buddhist temple on the left bank of the Peiho, our reception by the priests belonging to it was most friendly and hospitable. On the principal shrine were the orthodox representations of “the three Buddhas,” – namely, past, present, and to come. In other portions of the same sacred edifice were figures, doubtless of saints; before each a joss stick smouldered, while our venerable entertainers talked and smiled, even in presence of their gods. This portion of our visit over, we were invited by the priest to enter the house of one of the brethren. Having done so, tea in small cups, and cakes, steamed instead of baked, were served to us.

Arrived at a dwelling-house, in which various members of the family were engaged in the ceremonies connected with ancestral worship, we were permitted to be spectators of that ritual. A small shrine, erected for the occasion, had upon it two figures, probably Confucian, for they were without any characteristics of Buddhism. It was further decorated with flags and other ornaments. Offerings of apples were arranged upon the shrine; a vessel containing joss sticks, otherwise incense rods, one of which was taken by each worshipper in his turn and lighted; there were also piles of tinsel paper, from which pieces were successively taken and set on fire, the belief of the worshippers, all of whom were grave and orderly in demeanour, that messages were by that means conveyed to their departed relatives. But there were no women present at the ceremony. On either side of an enclosed passage, communicating with the ancestral hall, a series of tablets, roughly estimated at two hundred, were arranged, the impression conveyed to us being that each ancestor has his particular day on which his worship is celebrated.

We were at first unprepared, on visiting a principal mosque, to learn that several others of less magnitude existed for the considerable Mahomedan population in the city. The mosque alluded to was to a great extent Chinese in external style, but within had all the usual characteristics of such edifices; superadded to these, however, there was, on the middle of the floor, a tablet of Confucius, around which was entwined in bold relief the Taoist dragon! The moolahs were Chinese in feature and costume, and wore the Mongolian queue or pigtail. As we entered we found them deeply engaged in the study of the Koran, written in Arabic, which language they spoke fluently.

Having had the honour of being invited to dinner by a Chinese gentleman, the occasion was taken advantage of to observe the phase of native life so presented. As guest of the evening, I was received with much ceremony by Chang, for such was the name of the host; there was much bowing, “chin-chin”-ing, and hand-shaking, each person for himself shaking his own hands as he held them clasped upon his breast. Then followed a respectful inquiry as to my honourable years, – otherwise, how old I was, – and it by a desire to be informed as to how many children had the honour to call me father, a bow and expressive gesture indicating that sons only were to be counted in the enumeration. All this took place in an outer apartment; the party was then invited to proceed to the dining-hall, separated from that in which we at first stood by a series of apartments, all handsomely furnished and ornamented. In each corner of these rooms stood an ornamental lantern, having in it a red-coloured taper, in token of rejoicing; on the wall directly facing the door, a tablet upon which, in Chinese characters, was the moral maxim, “Not to covet is a virtue,” otherwise a compressed epitome of the tenth commandment. In the dining-room we took the chairs assigned to us. On the table, arranged with much taste, were dishes containing fruit, fresh and preserved; a dish on which were some neatly cut slices of what looked like ham; on another a pyramid of eggs that had been first boiled hard, then permitted to remain buried in the ground for a year. These delicacies partaken of (and the eggs referred to were by no means nasty), our host filled the tiny cup at the side of each guest with hot sham-shu, —i. e., a spirit distilled from millet, – bowed to each of us in succession, and returned to his seat. The course which followed was mainly composed of the root of water lily (Nelumbum); it again by one of sharks’ fins; then olives preserved in syrup, or perhaps rather jujubes;234 more fruits of sorts, variously preserved; seaweed, sea-slugs235, and other delicacies. Although chop-sticks were arranged for each of us, knives, forks, and spoons – all of silver, but the last-named of Chinese pattern – were also placed for our use. Several courses of this kind having succeeded each other, the more material part of the banquet was introduced, in the shape of portions of fowl and duck, served à la Russe; then a repetition of preserves as before; winding up with a portion of rice – the sign that dinner was over. Dessert was laid in another room; thither we repaired, and with toasts, talk, and a good deal of festivity the evening passed away.

A visit to an “opium den,” and inquiries to which that visit led, induced me to make, at the time, an entry in my diary thus: “I have witnessed much wretchedness and want among the victims of this vice (namely, opium-smoking); but neither in a greater degree nor among so large a proportion of the people as are debased in the United Kingdom through the evil consequences of indulgence in spirits.” The institution of such establishments was at the time looked upon as among the first fruits arising from the treaty, in accordance with which Tientsin, as a port, has been opened to foreign shipping.

The visit alluded to was made in company with an American missionary.236 His plan for obtaining influence over the frequenters of such places was to point out to them the evils present and prospective of the vice in which they were indulging, and so endeavour to wean them from it. By seeking for, and assisting in various ways, outcasts and the neglected, – by reconciling, when possible, those between whom misunderstandings had arisen, and in other kindred methods of proceeding, rather than in direct attempts at religious conversion, he had succeeded in making for himself a sphere of great usefulness and influence.

The postal arrangements in connection with our portion of the force were so imperfect that only by means of Chinese messengers employed at high rates of pay, which had to be made up at our individual cost, our letters were conveyed to Chefoo, to be put on board a steamer. The French, on the other hand, had with them two officers from the Post Office in Paris, under them a party of sailors, for the purpose, without expense to individuals, of keeping up postal communication between Tientsin and the same port.

With regard also to the transmission of family remittances, a similar contrast existed; it was impossible for us to send such remittances otherwise than through a bank or mercantile house in Hong-Kong, at the same time that the greatest difficulty and inconvenience existed in sending money to that island. The French, on the contrary, have with them special officers sent from the Paris Treasury for the purpose of transacting business of this kind. If, therefore, our arrangements are in most respects superior to those of our allies, these are examples of the few in reference to which we are comparatively at a disadvantage.

In the early days of April a great advance was apparent in the aspect of vegetation; long red catkins of poplar trees hung pendulous to a length of several inches; plants, numerous in their variety, rapidly came into blossom, many being species familiar to us in England, the progress made by all of them astonishing. Vines that had been buried deep in long trenches, and so protected against the cold of winter, were disinterred, laid along the surface of the ground as if to dry, then secured upon trellis-work erected for the purpose, after which the succession of bud, leaf, flower, and fruit was very rapid. In the near vicinity of irrigation canals, peach trees presented lovely displays of pink blossom; at intervals the “white cloud” of cherry flowers gave contrast to the whole.

From this point onwards interest increased in observing the successive aspects of Nature. On March 17 temperature was sufficiently mild to bring into activity a few winged insects; a perceptible change in the aspect of the fields was apparent; tender shoots of green cereal leaves were rising from the ground, and tree buds began to manifest coming activity. Migratory birds were now in flight northward in their course, wild swans being the first to start on such a journey, and to suffer at the hands of the snarer. Early in April the swallow,237 so well known in England, made its appearance; and thenceforward, with White’s “Selborne” in hand, note was taken of the order in which various species made their appearance – an order which coincided to a remarkable degree with what happens at home.

The departure of Mr. Bruce238 to take up his position as British Representative at Pekin marked the opening of a new era in the relations between our own and the Imperial Governments. The Emperor239 was still at Jehol, whither he had fled on the approach to his capital of the allied army; it was known that his chief adviser, the Prince Tsai, was inimical to foreigners; that the details of government were conducted by Prince Kung in conjunction with the Manchu Prince Wan siang; moreover, that the Taiping rebels were carrying their conquest rapidly northward, and so threatening the existence of the reigning dynasty; hence it was that our force was held ready prepared for eventualities. Happily the reception accorded to the British Minister, if not all that could be desired, was not of a kind to call for actual protest.

By way of occupation to our soldiers a camp was pitched and temporarily occupied by them at a little distance from the city; parades and drills became frequent, the general routine of duty much like that in an English garrison. Men who had suffered in health during the winter, and those time expired, were got ready for dispatch homewards, being conveyed by military train waggons to Taku, and thence by steamer to Hong-Kong en route. Of time-expired men the greater number were in the best of health and vigour, inured to military life, and in all respects desirable as soldiers, so that their departure was a serious loss to the efficiency of our force.

With a view to facilitate access to the recently established camp, the somewhat forcible measure was taken of cutting through the city wall. That an objection should be raised by the citizens was a matter of course; a deputation accordingly waited upon our Brigadier to protest against the dilapidation, the reason assigned by them being that “the Spirit of Fire” enters from the south, and danger to the city was thus to be apprehended.

Intercommunication between the French and British officers was friendly, if not exactly intimate, the former being invited to entertainments of different kinds given by the latter. On one such occasion conversation turned upon the nature of the influence being exerted upon the Chinese mind by our presence respectively: “Yes,” observed our neighbour, “we have a great mission to perform: you to benefit them by your commerce; we (the French) by our ideas!” One morning news reached us that a considerable portion of the French contingent had been dispatched for service in Saigon.

On the subject of commerce the Chinese had already their own views in relation to the indemnity to be paid to “the Barbarian.” Double import duty was imposed on all foreign goods landed at the port; one moiety to be paid before leaving the ship, the other prior to actual landing. By this simple method, according to the expression used, “the sheep would grow its own wool.” Not that the price to the Chinese receiver would increase; the dues must fall upon the exporter.

Meanwhile the Taipings were steadily advancing in their progress of devastation and murder; the atrocities reported as committed by them horrible in their details. Towards the end of April, Admiral Hope and Brigadier Staveley proceeded to Pekin, at the request of Prince Kung, who desired to consult with them relative to a plan initiated by himself, of dispatching a body of British troops to aid the Imperial forces against the rebels in question. The circumstance sufficed to put all concerned on the qui vive; our field arrangements were overhauled and seen to; all preparations made for contingencies. Shortly afterwards news spread that a considerable body of Tartar cavalry had been sent from Tientsin against them; that the British were to be withdrawn from Canton, and thus a force 2,000 strong left available for service against the rebels.

Our Ambassador, finding it well to consult personally the general officer commanding the troops in China respecting the somewhat important question at this juncture, of retaining our force intact or diminishing it, that officer was summoned to the capital. It was while he was en route towards Pekin that I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, and of adverting to an incident already mentioned with reference to the battle of Maharajpore. In the interval of seventeen years which has meanwhile elapsed, Captain Mitchell, of the 6th Foot, had become Major-General Sir John Mitchell, K.C.B. I asked him whether he had ever received the watch sent to him from the field by request of General Churchill. He seemed surprised to learn that I had been the sender; and taking it from his watch-pocket exclaimed, as he showed it to me: “There it is, and it goes as well as ever.” The expletives which accompanied the action are here omitted.

As in the severity of winter the health of the troops suffered greatly, so it did, though in a different way, when late in July and early in August summer heat was at its highest. During the latter period heat apoplexy, cholera, and a very virulent form of small-pox prevailed to such an extent and with such mortality that a veritable panic spread among them. Fortunately these terrible maladies continued but for a short time, a change to temperate in the state of the atmosphere seeming to put a sudden and complete check to them. While they continued they affected only the foreigner; the Chinese enjoyed their ordinary health; but they deviated altogether from the method, so general in India, of protecting their heads from the heat of the sun by means of thick turbans; on the contrary, they freely exposed themselves to the fiercest sun with no covering whatever on their shaven heads. According to them, the cause of this sudden outbreak of illness was the comet. An immense and brilliant comet had shortly previous appeared in the heavens – a strikingly grand object to gaze at, and wonder; but in the eyes of many a portent of evil.