CHINA.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 281, 29 June 1860, Page 3

CHINA.

'■'''.':'..'' ,; ' (Frpmthe:ArguS;) • \ i \:, ;; " The Qverland: Ghina Mail of March 15, has the; following; summaryqf;news:-n ; -,. :. A - , Sir Hope Grant, !Cpmm"ander^in-Chief qi the British Expeditionary ■Potce, arrived' here' on the 13th instant, along with his staff. No further detailsof the British and French forces have arrived, but we have intelligence of several vessels iwith< troops on hoard having reached Singapore., , ~„; All .kinds of rumors are going about as to the preparations made.by the Chinese, their determination; to fight; and' thehf' efforts to engage Europeans in their service; but-nb dependence can' be placed; on these; rumors. There is a general impression, among the Chinese that, the .Court .of: Pekinjintendg to, make a determine^ stand, but that is only conjecture ontheir part. ,• .......... We mentioned in our last summary that four English war vessels—the Samson, Aoteon, Algerine, and Dove—had left Shanghaa under sealed orders, and that we had heard that they were to take a strip of land in Shantung as a depot. One of them, the Samson, has since come down to Hong Kong, .having,left the other vessels on the 4th instant, safely anchored at a port in the entrance to the Gulf- of Pechelee. - These vessels went first to' Talien Bay, near to the port of Tang-, chau, that was to be opened by the new treaty. The inhabitants, who had never seen a European ship before, were alariDed at their appearance, but showed no hostility. The country round was found to be extenaiy^y cultivated, and growing

much grain. JbVesh provisions could •-'hot be obtained, and fruit arid .vegetables must be scarce. There are salhlbrr and oysters in the bay, and the thermometer < was as low as 18, the shore being lined with ic.e.' A singular report exists among the Chinese at. Canton,, tor the effect that the two gun boats have been taken,,but no one believes it. It is true thai the news of the loss of the gunboats at the mouth' of the Peiho last summer was reported in: Canton nine days after the event took place, and rbefore our vessels brought the intelligence to Shanghai but though Chinese stories often prove correct, yet they cannot be relied on, and in. this case, all the probability is against it. The story only shows [ that' the Cantonese expect hostilities'in the north. ' • .'.'".,'.

The rebels in the valley of the Yangtsze have had some more'success, and Szeceuen. There have also been' Some disturbances near Canton from rebels, or rather, local, marauders. In eight separate districts of KwarijEiing, bands of marauders 'have risen' upi and set the' mandarins at defiance, refusing to pay the taxes and plundering villages, ;whiclrthey surround during'the night and enter at dawn. ■ THe mandarins sent out' four thousand men.against them in. the.., commencement of this week, and will probably, reduce.them to order; but tliese and other local disturbances, which, are mainly owing to the shock given by foreigners to the prestige of the Chinese authorities, must cause much misery. ' ' ; Mr. Tarrant is to be released in a few days, but the heavy costs of his. trial will probably confine him to, the debtor's gaol, for some, time longer. The gaol authorities condemned him lately to solitary imprisonment for a short time, because the end' of a cigar was discovered in his cell. Such a fact scarcely requires comment, and sh^ws that, whatever may have beenthe faults of some of the papers in Hong Kong, no small) share of the obloquy should fall upon the officials."who thus demonstrate their incapacity for comprehending the age in which we live, and so wantonly embitter the state of affairs. . • l ! CaptainSaunders has been committed for trial at the Supreme Courtj on the charges of the murder of a Chinaman, and of shooting at and wounding other Chinaman, on board a Customs' boat at Swatow. He has been released on bail, the securitiesbeing himself for 6,000 dollars, arid two friends for 6,000 dollars each;. ;