TOLD BY A VETERAN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2308, 16 November 1914, Page 7

TOLD BY A VETERAN

SIGNING THE TREATY OF TIENTSIN

_END OF FIRST CHINA WAR (NO. V.) Henry. Walton, of Waiakhae, formerly of H.M. Navy, once more takes up the thread of his experiences in the China war of 1858,. from lmtaediatoly after the. taking of the' laku forts by the Anglo-French naval force.

_ After spiking the gtinS in the right-hand fort, we saw. a block-house about a mild away, and I ifiade up my mind to investigate it at dinner-time. In the event of any guns being there I took my mall with me. About halfway to tne blockiliaike We passed soiiie tB) I'ght shining in i |°, onv ay revealed a lot of nails (a Y?. , 6 commodity) lying on the mat, which we decided to gather as wo came back. After examining the blockhouse I came away, forgetting my mall (hammer), I r&n back for it, and on the way back-r-now by myself, I remembered the nails at the bairracks. Just ? 3 j.l ' down to scrape the nails together the mat moved. I started, but whipped the mat back at once, .and there concealed vuider.it lay a mandarin with his., leg broken. I, had knelt on the- maimed limb and it had hurt hifn. inen ; as my eyes got used, to the dark interior, I saw that there'were stretch l 1115I 115 j ?i]S each side of the room and a yhinaman lay on each one. As they were shot they had been taken there and died—in all kinds of horrible positions. . . > I tell you I : just made for, the fort feeling like Tam-o'-biianter on hi s grey mair'ej with my haii on end; - Had I suspected that dead and.wqunded had been housed there I would have thought nothing of such a sight, but to be tuk suddin', aB Paddy iZ 8 ' 2ave me rather a queer: turn. Afterwards we , got hold of the mandarin, and the doctor set his leg, which healed well, after which he was allowed his'liberty. • . in charge of Tabu vilfage, biit inany were the night expeditions we made to the pawnshops— at the sign of 'Ye Dragon oh Ye Ms' and many -, curios; were secured for loved dhes at Hoihe. ' Then We' Went up- to Tientsin, 0 n the Grand Canal, and as were the longest craft that naa been u)j, and, the riVor was serpentine m form, we'developed a habit of ru 1 5 nul Bur boWs. on the banks, in which case hordes' of .ChiAess were requisitioned to haul the vessel into the fairway again. As lots of the, Chinese had never _ seen a boat able to, move without sails or eyes ih the tomarily pauitwi on all .war , junks—our vessel created much cuiiosity, the i Chinese would stand along the banks and salaam to us as though we were some strange god unknown in tlieir temples."

The Treaty of Tientsin. . "When we arrived at the city the famous Treaty of Tientsin wa-s made. \\e lay in the .Grand Canal whilst the negotiations were proceeding. ■ It Was a terrible place for- dogs—dogs of every colour .and no particular ' breed—who Jo make the .night hideous with their ..howling.,..Some of our 1 men went ashore one night, and entering some 1 houses committed some very serious cnmes. There Were scuffles with this Chinese, and in one of tHese some of 'r^ en '^° their .black silk liandkerchiefs, and one revolver was. missingi A report was niade to; our. captain by some of the mandarins; >that wives and daughters- had been molested.. Through an interpreter,' the mandarins were asked to stand on the quarter-deck •whilst all hands Were mustered rtund the capstan; As they trudged round the capstan bars, the Chinese were asked to pick out the culprits, who would be flogged before them. When the Chinese heard how it was proposed to punish the men they refused to pick them outj proving that the Chinese (in this case, at all events) were more humane than we were. I was sorry the culprits were not brought to book, as they had brought disgrace upon the whole of the crew; ' (Swing • down the river' the captain of the Cormorant isked me to join <hiß vessel, saying that he would mate me a warrant officer if I would. But Captain King-Hall Eiaid

'No'—lie had brought me outj and ho would take me Home again. The skipper of the Cormorant'was a regular driver, but after our little row we got on splendidly." Japanese Smartness. "The signing of the Treaty of Tientsin ended,the war, so when, we got down the outer anchorage the fleet was dispersed. I rejoined my ship (the Calcutta), and after taking in provisions and water at the Yang-tse, went over to Nagasaki, in Japan, with Lord Elgin as a. passenger. . . . When we got into the inner harbour, . Japanese royalty came off, accompanied by a band of cymbals and tum-tums. Oh, mercy, what a band! Amongst : the visitors was a Prince, the Governor of Nagasaki,' and his retinue. There were many others—all two-swordod men with roundcan shields./. A- lot,, of\ our fellows thought they were very smart with tho cutlass, but the Japs showed them up. They stood with their shields in front of

thean ajid asked our chaps to make any eut, thrust, or point at them they liked, but so smart were they that they always, meit the blow with he shield. They also showed us. how they used .the two swords. It was noticeable that when the Chinese came on board they used to stand about like a lot of gawkie3, and look silly, but not so the Japs, There were about 600 aboard the first day we were at Nagasaki, and no sooner were they on the decks than they scattered all over the ship, sketching and . taking measurements of everything. Nothing escaped their attention; and I maintain-

Ed at '■ that time—lßsß—that the Japanese would come to be a- great people. There were no Jap warships in those days. We made them a present of a small steam yacht, and after an open port treaty was completed we sailed for Hong-Kong. > For England. "On reaching Hong-Kong we, got orders to leave for England, and after all preparations wore made and good-byes spoken we sailed with about 250 of the' .original 959 hands left.' That will show how many we lost through' dvsentry, and other diseases, as well as those killed in aotion or who died from wounds. The .day we lifted anchor in, Hong-Kong we had a pennant flying a hundred yards in length, plucked rooster \yas cast off from the'truck. This is the; way of the Navy—or it was. ... "From Hong-Kong we were towed to Singapore,, and after ,taking in provisions sailed for Home by way of Port Elisabeth. On arrival at Plymouth we were ordered to strip ship. Then we were all given six weeks' liberty." I was about to rejoin my ship when one of the crew, a Bolton man, said he had got his had gotten some influential people to sign a requisition. I 'decided to try to get mine in the same way, and wrote to my'father, as I had deoided if possible to go out to New Zealand, of which country we had read a good deal whilst. at Hong-Kong. Father got ,up the requisition, and had it signed by Sir .Archibald Allison, Sir John Campbell ,and Sir James Maxwell, and so we carried the day. Preparatory to emigrating to the land of the Maoris, arid one where there were cannibals, ono must have firearms, and I took with me a selection, with the necessary caps and bullets.' My sister made up her mind to accompany me, and wo took out passages in the Frenchman, one of the Sbaw-Savill Company's vessels, and after three weeks' delay we loft the Balckwall docks with 320 passengers, and' finally arrived in.Auckland after a very happy voynM Rt tVo beginpi 18Q0»'A ■