different from that to which they had been accustomed, and also because they were required to wear a motley half-European uniform which subjected them to the jeers of their own people, who used to call them "Imitation Foreign Devils." This European style of dress was adopted partly to make the Rebels imagine that they had foreign soldiers to contend with; and Wu, the Tautai of Shanghai, paid us the compliment of buying up some thousands of European boots, in order that the very footprints of the disciplined Chinese might leave a like impression. It was not till these troops became. "victorious" that their appearance was any source of pleasure to them; but after a time they became proud of the "imitation foreign devil" uniform, and would have objected to change it for a native dress. 60 n 60 Medical Officers, each Commissariat Officers and Assistants, each Though these officers bore high-sounding titles, it was not office work, but practical work, which they had to do, each of them having not only to give his order, but also to see that it was obeyed. To have invented new titles for their various positions would have been very troublesome; and so it is to be hoped that officers of H.M. army will not be displeased at the appropriation which has been made. ARMAMENT OF THE FORCE. 131 The infantry were for the most part armed with smooth-bored English muskets; but one regiment had Prussian rifles of the old pattern, firing conical balls, and 300 Enfields were distributed in the ranks. Their pouches carried more than fifty rounds of ammunition. The artillery armament consisted of two 8-inch howitzers, four 32-pounder guns, three 24-pounder howitzers, twelve 12-pounder howitzers, ten American 12-pounder mountain howitzers, eight 4-inch mountain howitzers, fourteen mortars, brass, 4 inches to 8 inches, and six rocket-tubes. This was a heavy force of artillery in the circumstances; it was well supplied with ammunition, each piece having from 250 to 500 rounds; and the greater portion of it was mounted on travelling-carriages. Boats, however, were the usual means of conveyance for the artillery, there being sixteen of these for the artillery armament and ammunition. This part of the force was well provided with all the usual requisites, and had also large mantlets of elm, of sufficient thickness to afford the gunners protection from the fire of muskets and gingalls. So useful did these prove, that in an engagement at Taitsan one of these mantlets was found to have caught eighteen bullets. The country being intersected with creeks, each field-battery carried planks, to make a short tramway; and the infantry had planks strapped on their bamboo ladders, so that the troops were able to pass over the country easily enough. The artillery also carried a pontoon equipment, which consisted of about 150 feet of Blanchard's infantry pontoon-bridge. The drill of the force was according to that in use in H.M. army, and the words of command were given in English. Only the most simple manœuvres were attempted, and more stress was laid on speed than on accurate dressing. The men were trained to come into line quickly, irrespective of inverted order. The Chinese drilled well, and were very steady, their great fault being that of talking in the ranks. Each regiment had two buglers, some of whom knew the calls well. The practice of the artillery, both in breaching fortifications and in covering storming-parties, was considered by many persons unconnected with this army to be uncommonly good; and the officers and men of the artillery were far superior to any other arm of the force. The infantry were taught to form square; but on the only occasion when they were attacked by cavalry at Waisoo in March 1864-the two regiments engaged broke, and lost 320 of their number in killed and prisoners. The punishment of flogging was inflicted by the bamboo, as is usual in the Imperial army; and the commanding officers of regiments had the power of inflicting it. The European method of flogging was objected to both by the men and the Mandarins, so it was thought better to employ the Chinese mode, which consisted in giving a certain number of blows on the back of the thighs with a rattan, or with a small piece of bamboo, somewhat like a ruler. Dismissal from the force was sometimes resorted to, but only by the Commander himself. There was, however, very little crime, and consequently very little punishment. Sometimes a regiment would be a whole month without any one in it deserving punishment, and the relationship between the men and the officers was on the whole affectionate. The Chinese were as a rule very orderly; and as drunkenness was unknown amongst them, the services of the provostmarshal rarely came into use except after a capture, when the desire for loot was a temptation to absence from the ranks. On the officers it was impossible to inflict minor THE PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED. 133 punishments, because their service was voluntary, and no engagement was ever entered into with them by the Imperial Government beyond a promise of the current month's pay. Hence the only penalty which could be held over them in terrorem was dismissal from the force; and it says much for them, as well as for the commanding officers, that this means proved so effectual in preserving order. It was to their commanding officer they had to look for everything, as the Chinese authorities refused to give them any direct hearing; and he allotted, on the recommendation of the principal medical officer, the various sums which were given to those who were wounded. If time had allowed, it would have been better to have entered into some arrangement with the Chinese Government which would have permitted the force to have been governed by some sort of articles of war; but the Chinese were averse to binding themselves in the matter; time and circumstances pressed, and some of the bravest officers, who were not always the best behaved, would have been soon excluded by the regulations of a more regular army. Hence it was thought best to take the material as it was found, to lose no time in turning it to use, to treat it fairly, and then dissolve it if expedient, so that it could hurt no one. This plan was followed with success at considerable risk and expense-the finale being, that the Chinese crushed the Rebellion. officers and men of the force were all handsomely dealt with at its dissolution, which was judged necessary in order to prevent likely future trouble. The After the artillery, the most important part of the force was the flotilla which belonged to it, and which was composed of steamers and Chinese gunboats. Each of the former was quite equal to 3000 men in a country such as that where the force had to act. The number of the steamers at one time in employ varied from one to four, and the Hyson may be taken as a specimen of them all. This vessel was a small iron paddle-steamer, of about ninety feet long and twenty-four feet wide, drawing three to four feet of water, and carrying one 32-pounder on a moving platform at her bows, while at her stern there was a 12-pounder howitzer. A loopholed protection of elm planking ran round the bulwarks to the height of six feet, and the steam-chests were protected by a timber traverse. She averaged eight knots per hour, and had a crew of one captain at £80 per menscm, a mate at £40, an engineer at £50, and an artillery officer at £30. The Chinese on board were four stokers, ten gunners, and twenty sailors. The steamers were usually managed by Americans, who handle river-boats of this class better than Englishmen do; and among these Captain Davidson, of the Hyson, specially distinguished himself by his coolness, skill, and daring. He had served under Ward and Burgevine before Gordon gave him a steamer to command, but died at Shanghai as he was about to return to his native land. Strange to say, though the Rebels were put in possession of two steamers, the Kajow and the Firefly, they failed to make any use of them, to speak of. Besides the steamers, the Kiangsoo force had two large siege gunboats, four large ammunition-boats, and eight large covered boats, each with a gun mounted at the bows. There were also attached to it a large flotilla of Chinese gunboats, sometimes to the number of fifty. These vessels were usually about forty feet long, ten feet broad, and did not draw more than two feet of water, being flat-bottomed vessels. Each had a crew of ten men, and they were propelled by a sweep working over the stern. They carried a 6-pounder or 9-pounder Chinese gun in the bows; and |