HORRORS OF EASTERN WAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 80

HORRORS OF EASTERN WAR.

In Mr George Mannington's "A Soldier of the Legion" (John Murray) there is a story of a rebel (or patriot) Tonquinese chief which is of interest. The most formidable of all insurgent chiefs encountered by the French in Tonquin was DeNam. For years he defied, and even defeated, French forces sent against him, and from his scientifically fortified fort, Kou-Thue, administered the whole of the province in the name of the exiled Emperor. When, however, one of his ablest lieutenants, Linh-Nghi, had been captured by Mr Mannington there was some hope that the prisoner might, under torture of various kinds, be induced to give such information as would betray De-Nam to the French. Directly, indeed, the French aio more tortured Linh-Nghi than the Inquisition put heretics to the torture, whom it handed over to the tender mercies of jfcEg. civil arm. Similarly, the French committed Linh-Nghi to the tender mercies of the native judges, who submitted him during interrogation to torture. Neither this positive torture nor the negative anguish of being deprived of opium could wring a traitorous word from Linh-Nghi.

— An Eastern Chief's Revenge. —

Except for these positive and negative tortures, Linh-Nghi was generously treated. He could eat and drink what he liked and see whom he pleased. Chief amongst his sympathising visitors were ihis wife and hiis iged and white-haired father and mother, to whom he was devoted. One morning a basket was brought to Linh-Nghi by die eentry, who had! found it at the gate of the fortress, addressed to the prisoner. Linh-Nghi opened it, to find within th« grey and gory heads of 'his fatlher and mother ! ■It seems that one of his enemies in the camp of De-Nam, coveting Linh-Nghi'e honours and command, had succeeded in persuading the rebel leader that hie lieutenant, yielddng at last to tortures to which he was daily subjected, had given the French all the information they needed. This ferocious revenge of DeNam was as much a blunder as a crime, educe the infuriated Linh-Nghi at once gave such information as enabled the French to capture the rebel leader's fastness.

— Chinese Revenge. —

Before, however, this forest fastness was shelled and captured De-Nam had died an ignominious death — ignominious at least for so famous a warrior. Some Chinese merchants, who had come down from the north to sell him" arms and ammunition, were" imprudent enough" after the deal to play at -bacquang (a native game cg3X&3. teLn-i&n t>y i.ix-& GliZja-e&&) -wiiln their customer, who won from them at it every farthing he had paid them for the gioods. In, revenge they poisoned him ! When, therefore, the forest fastness wlas at last baken, the only revengs «that could be inflicted upon the dead chief was the disinterment of his body and the scattering of what remained of it to the winds.

— A Harrowing Tragedy. —

Fate, not satisfied with the inglorious

death and ignominious exhumation of the ' rebel chief, pursued even his widow and ' newly-born son. Here is a verbatim j translation of the statement of a re^el deserter preserved in the records ' of Mr Mannington's Brigade : " The j favourite wife of our old chief, De-Nam, was heavy with child when the fire from the big guns and the approach of your infantry in such great numbers obliged us to evacuate our positions. Notwithstanding v her condition, she accompanied i De-Nam and his lieutenants, De-Truat and De-Hue, into the great forest at Quinh- \ Low. Here sfte gave birth to a male ' child ; this was on the second day of the 1 fifth month. At this time there were but ! few men with De-Nam, for the majority j of our troops had been scattered all over the country, and many had gone south to their villages 1 . Thus we were but 60 \ men, and with us were 6even women and , two little ones. But the white soldiers ! left us no peace, and each day they pre-ssed us so hard that we dared not sleep two nights in the same place. At last we found a cave, to reach which we had to, descend a passage leading straight down into the ea-rth. We had been in hidiug in this place several days when a party of j soldiers- wlbo had followed the tracks of i one of our men — sent out to fetch water — nearly discovered our retreat. Those soldiers hunted for usi until sundown, and remained all the night in the forest, so ! that, knowing this and fearing lest the cries of the young child should betray we, De-Nam ordered us to di.g a hole, and. in it our great chief ' 6 son was buried alive."

—The Mother's Fate.—

"When," proceeds this record, "the mother was told of what had befallen her babe — for it had been taken from her wihile £fhe was sleeping, and she knew not where it had gone — she was stricken with much sorrow, and went away from us weeping and complaining into the forest, where she slew herself in an agony of grief." This part of the deserter's story was confirmed by Mr Mannington's discovery of the body of the dead mother so soon after her suicide that it was still warm.