Narrative of a Recent Imprisonment in China after the Wreck of the Kite
9781465632098
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
On Monday the 8th July, 1839, I left Shields for Bordeaux in the Kite, a beautiful brig of 281 tons, commanded by Mr. James Noble; built by, and belonging to, Messrs. T. and W. Smith of Newcastle. We arrived at Bordeaux after a three weeks passage, and lay there for two months. Sailed from thence on the 16th October for the Mauritius, with a cargo of wines, and arrived there after a passage of ninety-three days. Here we remained a month, and having landed the wines, sailed from thence to Madras in ballast; where the vessel was taken up by government, to carry stores to the British fleet destined for China: we then sailed for Trincomalee, at which place we took in some more stores, and then sailed for Singapore; where, on our arrival, we found the fleet had sailed several days before for Macao. Whilst we lay at Singapore, the Melville 72, Blonde 42, and Pylades 18, arrived, and we received orders to sail for Macao immediately, at which place we arrived after a short passage, but were still behind the fleet, it having sailed some days before for Chusan. We received orders to follow it to Buffalo Island, where there was to be a man of war cruising to give us farther directions; but when we arrived at this island we found no vessel of any kind; and as we had had a very quick passage, Mr. Noble was afraid to proceed any further, as perhaps we might have passed the fleet, and arrived before it. We therefore brought the ship to an anchor, and lay there till the next afternoon, when the Melville and a transport arrived, upon which we got under weigh, and followed the Melville up to Chusan, where we arrived the day following, and anchored in the outer roads. We found the town in the possession of our own troops, who had taken it the day previous to our arrival: so that if we had not stopped at Buffalo Island, we should have been present at the attack; we heard the firing, and saw the blaze of the burning town whilst on our passage up. The men-of-war junks which had fired on the Wellesley presented a most wretched appearance, being deserted—some sunk, and others with their masts shot away; and where a shot had struck the hull, it had not only passed completely through the vessel, but also through one or two houses ashore. There were not many Chinese to be seen, and the few that were still in the town, appeared of the very lowest grade. The town and harbour presented, nevertheless, rather a lively spectacle, as boats were constantly passing between the ships and the shore, disembarking troops of varied dress and nations. Two camps were very soon formed, one overlooking the town, and the other on a hill commanding the entrance into the harbour. Sickness soon began to make its appearance amongst the troops, particularly the Company's native regiments, brought on, I think, by inactivity, and by the dreadful smells of the town, as well as the effluvia arising from the imperfectly buried dead of the Chinese; whilst those who were on board ship, constantly at work, and yet drinking the same bad water, were not affected in nearly so serious a manner.
