their own people in their haste to escape. Fearing the result, if he allowed his men to enter the town and mix with the Apak crew, Captain Dew re-embarked them along with the French, making arrangements in case the Tai-pings attempted to reoccupy the city, but these latter stopped as little as possible till they found themselves within the walls of Yuyow, thirty miles distant.

On the following day the city was handed over, through Mr Harvey, the British Consul, to Chang, the ex-Tautai. "I had known," writes Captain Dew, "Ningpo in its palmy days, when it boasted itself one of the first commercial cities of the empire; but now, on this 11th May, one might have fancied that an angel of destruction had been at work in the city as in its suburbs. All the latter, with their wealthy hongs and thousands of houses, lay levelled; while in the city itself, once the home of half a million of people, no trace or vestige of an inhabitant could be seen. Truly it was a city of the dead. The rich and beautiful furniture of the houses had become firewood, or was removed to the walls for the use of the soldiers who had dwelt thereon. The canals were filled with dead bodies and stagnant filth. The stone-work of bridges and pavements had been uplifted to strengthen walls and form barricades in the streets; and in those temples, once the pride of their Buddhist priests, the chaotic remains of gorgeous idols and war gods lay strewn about, their lopped limbs showing they had become the sport of those Christian Tai-pings, whose chief, the Tien Wang, eight years before, at Nanking, had asked Sir George Bonham if the Virgin Mary had a pretty sister for him, the King of Heaven, to marry! It has been my good fortune since to assist at the wresting of many cities from these Tai-pings, and in them all I found, as at Ningpo, that the same devilish hands had

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been at work, the people expelled from their houses, and their cities ruined."

After Ningpo was thus retaken, Apak, the ex-pirate, and his fleet were dismissed, and at the urgent request of Chang, the Imperialist Tautai or Governor, Captain Dew undertook the military command of the city, including the control of 400 of Ward's disciplined Chinese, who were sent round from Shanghai, and were placed in charge of the gates. A proclamation was issued to the people, inviting them to return to their homes, and stating that the Allies would guarantee the city against another visit from the Tai-pings. Such faith had the Chinese in our promise that by tens of thousands they flocked to their old homes; and in a month houses had been refurnished, shops opened, and commercial activity began to return. Some trouble was caused by a number of rowdies, the mauvais sujets of all nations, who appeared in the settlement, intent on robbing what little the Rebels and Apak had left in the city. They were wont to hire gangs of Chinese, and to declare they acted on Captain Dew's authority. In this manner quantities of rice, valuable medicines, &c. &c., were lowered over the walls; and a German who was caught in the very act of carrying off a 24-pounder gun, received four dozen lashes on board the Encounter. Mr Harvey and the other Foreign Consuls issued certificates to all Foreigners pursuing lawful callings; and one night Captain Dew landed a party of his men and seized all unprovided with such a document, and sent them to Shanghai. The Chinese custom house was opened, and numerous seizures of arms intended for the Rebels were made. When the British ship Paragon was visited by a naval officer, the master declared his cargo to be bamboo wares; but on opening the hatches, 200 iron cannons, thousands of

stands of small-arms, and a large quantity of ammunition, were disclosed. The cargo was confiscated by the Chinese, and the master was fined £100 for his false manifesto. The temptation to squeeze the Chinese going in and out of the city was too great for Ward's men, and sometimes for even his officers, to resist; and at last French and English men-of-war's men were placed at the gates.

These measures had the desired effect, and confidence was soon restored. It was also arranged with the Mandarins that a Chinese disciplined force of 1000 men should be raised for the defence of the city, as it was intimated that Ward would soon require his men at Shanghai. There was no difficulty in obtaining recruits from Chusan in any number. The good treatment of the men by their European officers, and, above all, the fact that they really received weekly pay in money, and not, as frequently from Mandarins, in promises, made the disciplined force a very popular one. A dozen British marines were appointed instructors to six companies, and an artillery company of 100 men was likewise formed. The artificers of the Encounter, under the gunner and carpenter, were employed in making gun-carriages and gun-gear; and so in a month the city was brought into a creditable state of defence, with sixty guns of all sizes in position. Good guard-houses were built at each gate, and solid granite magazines were also constructed. Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Brethon succeeded Kenney (who had died from the effects of his wound) as French senior officer, cordially aiding Captain Dew in all that concerned the defence of the city, and in subsequent operations. Not wishing that France should be unfelt, he and Monsieur Giquel, formerly a French officer, but then engaged as Commissioner of Chinese Customs, raised a

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Franco-Chinese corps, with the aid of some instructors from Shanghai. Occasional trips were made up both branches of the river in gunboats; so several skirmishes occurred with the Rebels, who were concentrated in force in the walled city of Yuyow, thirty miles from Ningpo on which they appeared to meditate another attack.

On one occasion, when the Hardy and Etoile were reconnoitring, a strange deputation of aged persons came down to the river-bank, headed by a little girl leading a venerable blind old man. Their story was that the Taipings had the day before burned their village, carried off their sons and daughters, and because these poor helpless people had no money, to give, the fiends had cut off their ears. To prevent the Tai-pings ravaging the country after this fashion, the Ringdove was placed about twentyfive miles up the river, and she effectually kept them in check for a time.

Towards the end of July, Captain Dew moved the Encounter up the river as far as her draught would allow, within ten miles of Yuyow, under the Joss-house Hill, and made preparations for attacking the city, which was held by 20,000 Tai-pings,—his orders being to use his best exertions in carrying out the policy of the Government in clearing a thirty-mile radius. The attacking force consisted of the Hardy, with 40 men of the Encounter's crew, and towing-boats containing about 500 of Ward's men; the French steamer Confucius, commanded by Lieutenant Le Brethon, having on her deck 400 Franco-Chinese; and 1500 Cantonese braves in a dozen armed junks which the Chinese merchants of Ningpo had fitted out. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the scenery between Joss-house Hill and Yuyow. The river wound its tortuous course among pine-clad hills, in whose gorges, fringed with the feathery bamboos, lay villages

once teeming with life, but at this time blackened ruins haunted by hungry dogs. The large hill in the centre of Yuyow and all neighbouring eminences seemed like a vast tulip-field, owing to the gaudy banners of the Rebel host. The walls of this place, three miles in circumference, enclosed a high hill. As usual with Chinese cities, a canal encircles it, save on the side of the river, which is navigable for a gunboat to within 200 yards of the walls. A bridge spanned the river, and communicated with a ruined suburb on the left bank; on the right, and commanding the city, stood a high hill, with a large joss-house on its summit. A line of stockades and batteries extended along either bank of the river for half a mile; and the stream itself, which was only ten feet deep, had been staked.

On the 2d August the gunboats advanced up the river, and it was arranged that, when they had shelled a tête du pont, Ward's men and the Franco-Chinese should advance, carrying a bridge which led to the joss-house, which, being the key of the position, might lead to the fall of the city. After the tête du pont had been shelled until it seemed untenable, the Chinese troops advanced gallantly, led by M. Giquel and Major Morton; but on reaching the centre of the bridge, they were brought up by a wooden stockade and a heavy fire from the hill-top, as well as from a large body of men concealed in a bombproof near the bridge. With heavy loss they had to retreat, and other attempts were also failures, the fall of 100 killed and wounded, together with heavy rains, having dispirited the assailants. Next morning a new plan of attack was arranged, and Yuyow was taken without much loss, the Franco-Chinese under M. Giquel greatly distinguishing themselves. Chang, the Tautai, was highly delighted, not so much at the fall of the city,