The fate of the Manchoo rule hung trembling in the balance, and the consciousness of well-merited destruction struck terror to the hearts of the corrupt and sanguinary government. A little more energy and determination at this period would have won the empire; had the first northern army been able to maintain itself at Tsing-hae until the arrival of the second, the dynasty of Ta-tsing would have terminated. The combined forces could assuredly have captured and held Tien-tsin until the arrival of further reinforcements from Nankin, even if the possession of that city, the grand supply depôt of Pekin, had not caused the fall of the capital. The extraordinary northern march, and the length of time that little army was able to retain its menacing position, afford ample evidence that greater strength would have ensured its success. Through neglecting that favourable and momentous opportunity, the Tien-wang forfeited the grand object of his efforts when open to his grasp. That his powerful mind was unequal to the occasion is far less probable than that his expectations of his countrymen were not realized. It is impossible that he could be ignorant of the advantages of combination, and it appears certain that he reckoned upon the general rising of the Chinese, as well as on the omnipotent assistance of God. This is, in fact, manifestly plain from his proclamations, and affords the only reasonable explanation of his sending several small armies unsupported in totally divergent courses, rather than concentrating all his available forces, and aiming directly at the head-quarters of the Manchoo dynasty.

Although several smaller detachments joined the Ti-ping army at Lin-tsing, it was unable to advance upon Pekin again; the favourable moment having once passed, did not return. Several severe actions were contested with no material advantage upon either side, and the semi-steel-clad warriors of inner Mongolia were well matched by the undefended revolutionists. Greatly harassed by the numerous cavalry of the enemy, in May, 1854, the Ti-ping army slowly turned towards the south, continually engaging the Imperialist forces and capturing many important cities to the north of the Yang-tze river.

It is not generally known that Le-hsiu-ch'-éng, subsequently famous as the Chung-wang, was the leader of the first northern expedition; but, during my acquaintance with him, he has frequently reverted to it. From his statements I inferred that he received no particular order to march on Pekin, but simply a general one to conquer the country, and deliver the people from the Manchoo rule. The direct march upon the capital was his own determination, and the reinforcement eventually despatched to his assistance was not at first intended, but was sent to him in consequence of the request for more troops which he forwarded to Nankin by disguised messengers after his passage of the Yellow River. He declared that his troops had been within sight of the walls of Pekin, and that he could easily have captured the city if the reinforcement had joined him earlier; also that his retirement from Tsing-hae was caused entirely by the volunteer troops of the Pekin district, the Mongols and Manchoos being unable to stand against the attack of his men. If this be true, it seems a singular fact that the Tartar dynasty should owe its safety to the Chinese, although in the Pekin district it may fairly be assumed that they have long become entirely Tartarized.

Meanwhile the Manchoos resorted to the most corrupt practices of a most corrupt government, in order to obtain the necessary supplies to make their defence. The sale of titles, offices, and degrees was carried to an enormous extent. Twenty-three notifications were published in the Pekin Gazette, putting up for sale every rank, honour, or emolument in the kingdom. Prisoners were allowed to purchase their freedom, exiles their return; functionaries were allowed to buy titles for their maternal relatives, and any one and every one was allowed to purchase for his father a rank superior to his own; in short, a system of entire bribery and corruption was established.

Posthumous honours were also accorded to those who had been killed in battle, extending to the fourth, fifth, or entire generation of their ancestors; while those who ran away to fight another day received every kind of degradation; all the complicated details of cunning deception and bombastic warfare were resorted to by the Manchoo government in its extremity.

The following document discloses facts connected with the troops of the "paternal" government which might well have aroused the people to join the Ti-ping standard of freedom.

Translated by Rev. Dr. W. H. Medhurst, Shanghae, Nov. 1, 1853:[23]—

The following was the only notice taken of the above petition by Lew, the Imperial commissioner:—

While this was the common behaviour of the Imperialist troops in every direction, the Ti-pings were acting as real deliverers to the people; whatever excesses the besottedness of their spiritless countrymen may at a later period have driven their new levies to commit. I cannot do better than offer the contrast presented by the conduct of the Ti-ping soldiery, in an account the Rev. Dr. Medhurst gives, in a letter quoted in "Impressions of China," by Captain Fishbourne:—

At this time the city of Shanghae was in possession of the Triad rebels (the society sworn to expel the Manchoos), who have not unfrequently been confounded with the Ti-pings, to the prejudice of the latter.

Late in the summer of 1853, some few months after the capture of Nankin by the Ti-pings, the Triad society, alive to the advantages of the movement, rose up against the obnoxious Manchoos in many parts of the country.

About the end of July, a body of the Triads succeeded in gaining possession of the city of Amoy, one of the treaty ports, meeting with but slight resistance, the inhabitants being glad to receive them. By their singularly moderate conduct, the movement became very popular; in fact, all their supplies were brought in by the country people, and their principal strength was composed of these villagers, who remained and fought against the Imperialist troops as long as the insurrection lasted. Several cities in the neighbourhood were captured, and the wealthy classes remained aloof from both contending parties; their disposition towards the government was far too adverse for them to assist it; but they contented themselves with simply withdrawing their support, well knowing the savage revenge the "paternal" rulers would wreak upon them and their helpless families, if they were to join the rebellion, and it should afterwards fail. The country people throughout the district remained hostile to the Imperialists until their recapture of Amoy, when, to save their own and relatives' lives, they were compelled to return to the Manchoo slavery, those being lucky who escaped the indiscriminate vengeance of the government.

Captain Fishbourne, senior naval officer on the station, was present at Amoy when it was captured by the Triads. He reports:—

Upon the 11th of November the city of Amoy, which had been for some time besieged by a vastly superior force of Imperialists, was evacuated by the Triads, who, being short of supplies, marched out of the city in broad daylight unmolested by the cowardly besiegers, who then marched in to perpetrate the most revolting barbarities, in their ordinary manner, upon the defenceless inhabitants. A large squadron of pirates composed the naval force employed by the Imperialists in their siege of the city, in the same manner as in their attack upon Ningpo when held by the Ti-pings, on the 10th May, 1862, although upon this latter occasion the Imperialist pirates were successful, an alliance having been entered into between them and the British squadron commanded by Captain Roderick Dew, R.N.

Captain Fishbourne, who was an eye-witness of the return of Amoy to Manchoo rule, thus describes it:—

Well may it be asked—Were the people of England aware of these enormities when they cherished and sustained the Manchoo? It cannot be credited; and, therefore, it is well to point out what kind of government they supported, what description of men they made war upon, and what were the results of their interference.

On the 7th of September, Shanghae, another of the treaty ports, was captured, and several other places in the neighbourhood were attacked by different bodies of Triads. At this city also they seem to have behaved with remarkable moderation, and are said to have found about £70,000 in the treasury.

Although totally unconnected with the great Ti-ping revolution, they still looked hopefully towards it, and, after some little hesitation, sent a deputation, as likewise from Amoy, tendering their allegiance to the Tien-wang. He, however, refused to accept them, despite the enormous advantages he would have derived from the possession of the treaty ports, until such time as they should understand and profess Christianity; and it was probably one of the teachers he sent to them, whose speech was reported by Mr. Medhurst in the letter quoted from a few pages preceding.

Captain Fishbourne reports of them:—

While the Triad insurgents continued to manifest the most friendly feeling towards the European residents at Shanghae, the Imperialist troops collecting to the siege of the Chinese city, in their usual style, became very dangerous and hostile. It was reported by Captain Fishbourne:—

Several times the European settlement was attacked by them, and was once attempted to be fired; and, at last, so outrageous had they become, that the British and French forces—in all less than three hundred men—were compelled to attack their camp, and drive them further away from the settlement, inflicting a loss, it is said, of three hundred killed; losing themselves only two killed and fifteen wounded.

As it is universally known these Triad rebels were in every way inferior to the Ti-pings, and as they were allowed to capture the treaty ports, and their conduct was always so friendly to Europeans, and so far superior to that of the Imperialists, it does seem a little extraordinary that the British public have not penetrated the falsity of the statement subsequently urged against the Ti-pings, in order to attempt the palliation of the infamous policy of driving them from Shanghae and Ningpo,—that the treaty ports must be held against the Ti-pings, because, if the latter were to capture them, an immense amount of British property and British lives would be destroyed, &c.

During the Triads' occupation of Shanghae, a formidable, though at first secret, opposition was insidiously at work against them among the European community—the hostile intrigues of the Jesuits. These priests, with a constancy and perseverance worthy a better cause, are found plotting and making converts to a pseudo sort of Christianity all over the country. It so happens, that to propitiate the Chinese, or not to shock them by too great a departure from "old custom," they are allowed to retain most of their idolatrous forms of worship, to which are added the usual figures of the manifold saints, &c., of the Romish church. Now the Ti-pings, who are strict iconoclasts, having several times fallen foul of Roman Catholic establishments in the interior, and in each case mistaken the figure of the Virgin Mary with a male child in her arms for the very similar idol of Budha, have naturally confounded Jesuitism with the Budhism it resembles. Consequently, the Tartar-worshipping Jesuits are the most bitter enemies the Ti-pings have ever had, knowing, as they do, that the success of the latter would entirely destroy their work, and drive them from the many positions they hold throughout China. Therefore, when the Jesuits ascertained the Triads not only announced themselves as being about to join the Tien-wang, but had actually sent deputations to, and received instructors from him, they at once commenced intriguing for their overthrow. The French consul and the French senior officer on the station were both priest-ridden and bigoted men, and eventually, for certain valuable considerations, assistance was afforded to the Imperialists, and the Triads were driven out of a Chinese city without the slightest shadow of justice or reason.

Both the English and French authorities deprived the Triads of the duties they were justly entitled to levy on all export or import trade. At last the French admiral, appropriately named La Guerre, determined that the time had arrived to fulfil his own and his Jesuitical colleagues' peculiarly unrighteous intentions. The Triads were suddenly attacked (December, 1854) without having given the slightest provocation, and several of their men, who were engaged constructing a battery outside one of the city gates, murdered by the French sailors. A few days later they surprised fifteen poor rebels asleep in the same battery, and these were also butchered. Two days previous to this, Admiral La Guerre savagely bombarded the city, although it contained upwards of 20,000 innocent inhabitants, among whom the shot and shell committed much slaughter. Allied to the ferocious Manchoo, the French closely blockaded the city, and cut off all communication.

Some people delight in terming the Ti-pings bloodthirsty monsters, &c.; but the following extract proves that the French not only excelled the rebels, but even surpassed the Imperialists in wanton cruelty. In "Twelve Years in China,"[25] by John Scarth, Esq., we find the following episode of the blockade by the civilized and most Christian allies of the Manchoo:—

The French eventually breached the walls, and with their creditable allies assaulted the city, only, however, to be beaten back with a loss of one-fifth their number. The Triads were at last starved out, and upon the Chinese New Year's night (17th February, 1855) evacuated Shanghae, and cut their way through the Imperialist lines. Three hundred, who had surrendered themselves to Admiral La Guerre, were by that officer given up to the Mandarins, and tortured to death. During three days every atrocity was perpetrated by the Imperialists upon the unfortunate inhabitants caught within the city, or the rebels who were hunted down in the country. Upwards of 2,000 were barbarously put to death within three days. As Messrs. J. Scarth, Sillar, and others have written,—"The Imperialist soldiers even burst open the coffins in the burial-grounds, and dragged out the rebel corpses and beheaded them." Women were horribly mutilated and put to death; rebels were crucified and tortured with red-hot irons; some were starved to death in the streets of the city; others were disembowelled, and very many slowly cut to pieces. When the Triads captured the city, they killed only two men, tortured none, and respected private property. The papers at Shanghae stated,—"When the French and Imperialists got possession of the city, however, there was something like slaughter. Heads were hung round the city walls in bunches; the Pagoda Bridge had nineteen on it, and in some places they were piled up in heaps!"

The conduct of those British officials who seemed anxious to carry out the Manchoo-assisting policy of Sir John Bowring, Admiral Stirling, and others, is thus severely reflected on by Mr. Scarth, who was present:—

At page 217 of his interesting work he says:—

Some who are acquainted with such matters may understand this "extraordinary" exploit, while those who know little of Chinese affairs may naturally wonder whether the "15,000 dollars" offered for Chin-ah-Lin's head by the Vice-Consul's Mandarin friends had anything to do with it.

Not only at the Shanghae massacre in 1855 did British officials display their taste for the Manchoo alliance. During 1854-5-6 Englishmen continually interfered against the rising of the oppressed Chinese. In 1854 Sir J. Bowring allied the British fleet with the forces of that notorious monster Yeh, and thus contributed to the extermination which desolated the province of Kwang-tung. The city of Canton was almost the only place in the province still held by the Mandarins. It was secured to them by British means, and its security doomed to death more than one million innocent people.

While Yeh busied himself with exterminating man, woman, and child, and razing to the ground nearly every village through which the rebels had passed, H. B. M.'s ships of war chased the rebel squadrons along the China coast, dealing with them as pirates, because, forsooth, they were armed, and because they had captured Chinese vessels when endeavouring to force the blockade of Canton; H.M.'s ship Bittern and the steamer Paou-shun hemmed in one division of the rebel fleet in the Gulf of Pe-chi-le, sinking nearly every vessel, and giving up the crew of the only one captured to the Manchoo executioners. Two junks escaped and joined another squadron at Chusan. Yet these vessels shortly afterwards allowed two missionaries to pass their blockade, because, as the chiefs said, "they were good men, and preached the faith of Yesu!" In the harbour of Shih-poo the destruction of another fleet is described in "Twelve Years in China":—

British policy towards China has, during the last decade, been influenced by men led by a small party of Chinese custom-house mercenaries, who, while hired by the Manchoos, were permitted to bias, not only Sir John Bowring, but even Lord Elgin. The independent and honourable policy of Sir George Bonham and his colleagues gave place to an "interested Mandarin-worshipping" diplomacy that has made England the ally and saviour of the most sanguinary, corrupt, and worn-out despotism in the world. Messrs. Wade and Lay, sometime Lord Elgin's interpreters, and sometime the custom employés of the Manchoo, may have thought the views they imparted to the former were correct; but at all events they were too much personally interested in the welfare of their Mandarin friends to be impartial. The principal effect of this has been that the Manchoo-influenced officials have united the representatives of England with the Jesuit-influenced representatives of France in perpetuating the Tartar cruelties, and in destroying the Ti-ping attempt to liberate China and establish Protestant Christianity throughout the empire.

At Canton, Shanghae, and elsewhere, in 1854, the Chinese would have succeeded in their righteous endeavours to throw off the Manchoo yoke; at Shanghae, in 1860, at Ningpo and Shanghae in 1862, and upon other occasions, the Ti-ping revolution would have succeeded but for British intervention.

CHAPTER VII.

Eager to meet my betrothed, I had no sooner moored my vessel in the Shanghae anchorage, and reported at the Consulate, than I sought her at her aunt's dwelling, which was situated at the back of the American settlement, at a considerable distance from any other European habitation.

When I drew near the house, an indescribable presentiment of evil seemed to possess me,—one of those prophetic warnings, so common, but yet such a psychological mystery.

I walked rapidly along, until the turning of some rising ground, a little distance in front, brought me within sight of the house. When I reached the ridge that had concealed it from view, I paused a moment, almost expecting to find that the building had vanished.

There, however, stood the house, safe enough to all appearance; so, feeling reassured, I walked on. As I drew close, almost expecting Marie would run forth to welcome me, I failed to discern any smoke issuing from the chimneys, or any sign of life about the dwelling. My former fear now returned in full force; I was within a few paces of the house, and it appeared to be uninhabited.

I hurried forward to the door; it was unfastened; the lock was wrenched off, and had evidently been broken open. I passed within, and loudly called upon the former tenants by name; but echo alone replied. Passing from room to room, I saw furniture scattered about in every direction, broken and thrown down. The house presented a picture of utter ruin.

I ran through the rooms, still vociferating, and still mocked by the echo of my own voice. They were silent and deserted. I was evidently the only living thing within the walls. At last, hoarse with shouting, I stood in silent despair, gazing on the destruction around. Marie and her relatives had disappeared, and the scene of ruin told a tale of violence.

For some moments all was still and quiet. At length, aroused by the sound of footsteps in the lower rooms, a sudden hope cheered me, and I hurried to meet them. A glance showed me I had deceived myself; a couple of Chinamen, with eyes and mouth wide open, gaping at the broken furniture, stood before me. I questioned them anxiously, trusting to gain some intelligence, but all to no purpose. To my inquiries they replied by stating that, having heard my hallooing, they had come to see what was the matter. Further questioning simply elicited, "Gno puh-shettah, gno puh-shettah" (I don't know, I don't know). Turning them out, I searched every nook and corner, but without avail. All my efforts were fruitless, no trace of anything that could enlighten me was apparent—not a vestige, not a clue, rewarded my long and anxious search.

All clothing and personal effects had been removed, and many light articles of furniture; the heavier ones were broken and overturned. It was impossible to tell what might have been destroyed or carried off by thieves after the house had been deserted.

At last I was compelled to confess to myself that further search was hopeless; I had searched diligently, and could discover nothing. Sorrowfully I turned away from the house, and proceeded to several Chinese dwellings in the neighbourhood; but at each received the unsatisfactory answer, "Puh-shettah, puh-shettah."

Taking my interpreter with me, I called at many houses, but without success; not the slightest information could I gather; the whole affair remained a profound and impenetrable mystery. Everything led me to believe some violent act had been perpetrated; besides, I was quite certain that Marie would never have gone away willingly without first communicating with me.

One evening when in my cabin, tired out with the day's useless searching, and absorbed with bitter reflections, an old friend of mine, Captain L., erstwhile of the Turkish Contingent, came on board to see me, having just arrived from Hankow. After I had related the mysterious disappearance of Marie, L. suddenly jumped from his seat with a loud exclamation, and, questioning me a little further, declared he had obtained a clue as to her destination.

It appeared that, while on his passage from Chin-kiang, the steamer had passed close to a large Portuguese lorcha, and he had just caught a glimpse of a girl on deck, of whom he then took no further notice, but who he now felt sure was Marie.

I felt overjoyed at the discovery. L., my friend, had called with me at Marie's relatives' several times, so I had every confidence that his opinion was correct, and I determined to follow the trail so singularly found. He declared he would accompany me, and kindly professed his readiness to start at once.

Early in the morning I went ashore to the owners of the schooner, and gave up the command to a friend. Philip, the mate, preferred joining me; he had served in the Greek insurrection against the Turks, and was a fine brave fellow.

Fortunately one of the river steamers—at that time few and far between—was to leave Shanghae in the afternoon, so it was just possible I might reach Chin-kiang before the lorcha's arrival, though that would depend entirely upon the winds she had experienced. Accordingly, a few minutes before the bell rang, the whistle blew, and the skipper gave the hoarse command to "cast off." L., Philip, and myself, made our way on board the Yang-tze (named after the river) with our baggage. We each took an ample supply of everything, as it would be necessary, in case the lorcha should have left Chin-kiang previous to our arrival, either to purchase or hire a vessel of some description to follow her. During the passage to Chin-kiang, we kept a regular watch the whole time, one or the other of us never leaving the deck, but, telescope in hand, keeping a sharp look-out. Heavily hung the time, until we made Silver Island ahead. I had put every possible interpretation upon Marie's presence—if, indeed, it were she—on board the lorcha. I had adopted every imaginable theory, but all to no purpose; the same idea would not remain five minutes, and I was forced to give up the mystery as unfathomable. Silver Island now hove in sight, and with my friends I waited impatiently on deck, and scanned the vessels in port, until, steaming slowly through the scanty shipping, we came to an anchor; but, although several lorchas were there, my friend did not recognize the one we sought for.

As the steamer remained but a short time at Chin-kiang, and it became necessary to leave her as soon as possible, I sent my interpreter (whom I had taken, together with my cook, and a female attendant for Marie in case I should find her), amongst the numerous junks, to hire one for us to live in for a few days, as there was no accommodation on shore. In a little while he returned successful, and leaving the steamer, we all took up our new quarters in a large Hankow junk, certainly not the most comfortable in the world, but still very well under the circumstances. The worst of it was, my sleeping berth that night happened to be in the joss-house, a little den surrounded by a broad shelf filled with the most horrible-looking small devils, of all colours and monstrosity, starting forth from red-painted and tinsel-gilded little temples; and although the crew seemed perfectly oblivious of the fact, by permitting the gods' or imps' desecration by the presence of the "foreign devil," a confounded old she-Chinese disturbed me at frequent periods throughout the night, by crawling into my place through a little hole at the back, to replenish the joss-sticks and incense, and to chin-chin Joss. The witches of Macbeth were nothing to that old hag, as she stuck herself at my feet, faintly seen by the dim light of a distant pot of oil burning from the end of a small piece of pith, and slowly rocked herself about, muttering some unintelligible jargon, out of which I could only distinguish, "tomety feh, tomety feh, tomety feh!"

From the excited state of my mind; the irruptions of that aged party—probably the great-grandmother of half the crew; the surrounding phalanx of little devils, occasionally lighted up by a red and sudden glow of the burning joss-sticks; the distant noise of the gambling crew, in the fore part of the junk (Chinese sailors are inveterate gamblers, generally spending the whole night at it when practicable), and the irritable, restless thoughts all this induced, it may easily be imagined how very delightful my numerous dreams were that night. It seems a singular fact that nearly all the Chinese idols are of the most terrible and demoniacal aspect; it is, however, easily to be accounted for, as the Chinamen say the beneficent gods, being good, cannot do them any harm; but the devils and evil gods being bad, they think it necessary to propitiate them.

Directly we arrived at Chin-kiang, I proceeded to the Custom-house, and ascertained that a lorcha had passed up the river only the preceding day. I therefore at once sent my interpreter to look out for a convenient and fast-sailing junk, either for sale or hire. The next day he fortunately succeeded in finding one, a cut-down up-river junk, of a particularly fast and shallow description; she had been altered into a semi-European style, and furnished with a keel, and comfortable cabins inside, was about 60 tons burthen, and altogether just the sort of craft I wanted. On the river she would certainly be faster under sail than the lorcha, and without wind she could either be tracked along the bank or impelled by the large sweeps (yulos) she carried.

As, in the event of rescuing Marie, I determined to proceed with the vessel to Nankin, the Chinese owner, who was also skipper, would only come to terms upon my paying down half the value of his craft, guaranteeing the remainder in case of loss, and hiring her at a monthly rate. To this I instantly agreed, and hurrying all the preparations forward, late on the same evening was enabled to start in chase of the lorcha.

A stern chase is proverbially a long one; but in this case I had means of progressing that the chase had not. The wind was too light for sailing against the strong current, therefore I knew the lorcha must either lay at anchor waiting for a breeze, or, if small and drawing but little water, progress slowly by tracking along the bank; while, upon the other hand, with my lighter vessel I should be able to keep close in to the shore, and track along at the rate of two or three miles an hour.

Tracking is a very common operation in China, resembling our canal tracking, only instead of horses the crew of the vessel pull her along, a rope being taken ashore from the mast-head, to which the men yoke themselves with a bridle having a wooden bar to rest upon the chest; then away they start, singing in chorus some melancholy falsetto monostich, or improvising as they go. At many parts there are regular trackers, who make it their business. It is a hard and unprofitable life, and these poor people, among others, are frequently seized by officials, and compelled to track government vessels for many hundred miles without reward, and then left to find their way home the best way they can, if they do not starve in the meanwhile.

The night was fortunately a bright moonlight one, and I was enabled to make considerable progress. Before daylight, however, the moon vanished behind the distant hills, and, with her disappearance, we were compelled to anchor till morning. At break of day I was up, eagerly scanning the distant bosom of the river for the bark I was following. Nothing but the sails of a few Chinese junks rewarded my long and anxious gaze. Yet it was possible the lorcha might be hid from view by the first bend of the river, where, scarcely three miles off, its waters disappeared behind the land.

Rousing up my friends, and leaving them to follow me by tracking slowly along, I dressed myself in Chinese clothes, put on a broad Chinese hat, took my rifle and a good glass, and landing with my interpreter, started off on the scout, making for an eminence some two or three miles distant, close to the channel of the river. When arrived at its summit, I found it commanded a capital view of the water for many miles; a glance told me the lorcha was nowhere near, neither could I distinguish her in the distance. Suddenly, my interpreter declared he could see her. Knowing what powerful vision the Chinese frequently have, I instantly brought the spot he pointed out—some eight or nine miles away—again into the range of my glass. I saw several junks' masts, and after a long and careful scrutiny, made out a couple much larger than the rest, which might possibly be those of the lorcha; but at that distance, with nothing but the bare masts, amongst others showing over some low land, I could not be certain. The Chinaman still persisted that he was right; and, trusting he might prove so, I returned on board.

During all that day we tracked steadily forward, and towards evening I had the satisfaction of plainly observing the lorcha in the distance. She was also being tracked, but was too heavy to move fast, so that we were rapidly gaining on her, and in four or five hours ought to be alongside. The difficulty would be to ascertain whether Marie was on board, and if so, how situated. When I reflected that my friend had observed her from the steamer as he passed, it did not seem improbable that I might see her also; but her apparent freedom sadly interfered with the idea that she had been carried off by force and was detained against her will. Had it been so, she might have made signs of distress, or called for help, when the steamer passed so close.

It was impossible to form any plan, or arrive at any fixed conclusion. Circumstances alone could guide us. We had now entered the Ti-ping territory, so I felt quite confident of safety on shore, whatever might betide; besides, my commission from the Chung-wang would doubtless obtain me assistance if I required it.

It would be quite easy for us to pass right alongside the lorcha without exciting the slightest suspicion. In the first place, her people could have not the least idea of our pursuit; and, in the second, we had but to hoist a Chinese flag, and if they should happen to take any notice of our vessel, they would simply think her a Chinese one, while we could closely observe them from our small cabin windows.

It was just about dusk when the lorcha ceased tracking, and came to an anchor under some steep hills. We were not more than half a mile astern, so, concealing ourselves, but making the Chinamen lounge about the decks, and stick up an old flag full of Chinese characters, without the slightest hesitation we held on our course. The lorcha had anchored within thirty yards of the bank, so, giving our vessel rather a broad sheer into the stream, we passed close to her, in fact, almost grazing her side. From our hiding-places we could see that her crew were mostly Portuguese, and that she was armed heavily enough to sink our lightly-built vessel in an instant; but Marie was not visible, neither could we distinguish any trace of her.

As my friend was positive it was the same craft he had previously seen, it was quite certain that some woman must be on board; therefore I determined to ascertain who she was. Continuing on past the lorcha for nearly a mile, until the turning of the river hid her behind the hills she was anchored abreast of, we hauled close in to the bank and made fast there.

Besides a larger boat, we carried one of the small canoes used at some parts of the Yang-tze. In this I decided to drop down the river whenever the moon should set, and endeavour to discover whether Marie was on board the strange vessel.

To favour my design, towards midnight the weather became heavy, and the moon soon after sank behind a thick bank of clouds; not a star could be seen, and the night was perfectly dark. I now dressed myself with loose black silk trousers, such as were used by the Ti-pings, tucking the ends into a pair of soft-soled Chinese boots, a tight black silk jacket, and a thick black felt Canton cap. I carried a pair of revolvers carefully loaded in my belt, placed a coil of rope in the boat, and also a common Chinese sleeping quilt. My friends desired to come with me; but I decided otherwise, for it would be desirable to use stratagem rather than force, and three of us, besides the man to manage the boat, would overcrowd her. Neither would I allow them to cast off the vessel and drop after me; for if I should find Marie and rescue her, it would be necessary to keep out of the range of the lorcha's guns. I therefore pressed the hands of my comrades, took my interpreter, a Canton man, whom I knew I could depend upon, and, with one of the best men of my crew to manage the boat, pushed off and commenced dropping down with the tide. I had scarcely left my vessel when a sudden thought struck me, so, turning back, I requested my friends to walk down the bank, take a couple of the crew with them, all well armed, and station themselves on the shore directly opposite the lorcha.

The strength of the tide swept the frail boat rapidly along, and soon I found myself abreast of the hills close to the termination of which I knew the lorcha lay at anchor. It was so very dark under the shadow of the high land, that when we discerned the vessel we were within a few hundred feet of her, and drifting down right upon her bows. We instantly slipped overboard the small grapnel made fast to the end of the line I had placed in the boat, and when it reached the bottom, held on to it, and waited to make our last preparations for boarding. I found we were still undiscovered; indeed, it would have been impossible to distinguish our little canoe in the surrounding darkness even at that short distance. After waiting a few moments, I whispered Aling (my interpreter) to slack away the line, while the man in the stern steered us as required with his paddle. Crouching low down in the boat, we slowly glided under the bows of the lorcha, till we drifted right upon her cable, grappling which I prepared to mount to the deck. Aling was to follow me so far, and then remain stationary; he would thus be able to assist me in case I should retreat to the bows with Marie, and, besides, would bring up the other end of the line, after reeving it through a ringbolt in the stern of the boat, both to secure a good means of descent and to prevent the boatman, who we knew had no knife, from shoving off in ease of alarm.

Slowly and noiselessly I clambered up the cable, and raising my head above the lorcha's bulwarks peered cautiously around. At last I was able to distinguish the forms of many of the crew lying about the deck covered up in their quilts. This was as I expected it would be, and, moreover, I trusted they were the Chinese part of the crew, for it was winter, and I calculated the Portuguese would prefer sleeping below.

I proceeded very deliberately with my investigations, knowing that I had plenty of time before daylight, and had no occasion to risk a discovery by being too precipitate. Aling soon joined me, and I was just whispering some instructions into his ear, when, with an exclamation, up started a man within arm's length, until then concealed by the foresail, upon the opposite side of which he must have been reclining. For a moment I feared we were discovered, and sending Aling down into the boat, drew a revolver, while I prepared to follow him. Instead of approaching me, the man walked aft. I then knew he must be the look-out, who, having slept on his watch, had probably gone aft to ascertain the time. Not a moment was to be lost if I intended to take advantage of his absence; softly calling upon Aling to return, I waited until he had reached me, and then, slipping over the rail, wrapped my quilt about me and walked aft.

Carefully stepping over the recumbent sleepers, I had just reached the main-mast when I saw the drowsy watchman returning. I instantly threw myself down on the deck, and, drawing the quilt over me, pretended to be seeking sleep. The device succeeded famously, for, whether the man had seen me or not, he evidently considered me to be one of the crew. Drawing the corner of the rug from over my eyes, I saw him disappear down the fore-scuttle. Most likely his watch had expired, and he went to rouse his relief. Directly his head was below the combings of the hatch, I started to my feet and continued getting aft. When I reached the cabin skylight I spread myself out by the side of it and gazed below. A bright lamp was burning, and everything inside was plainly visible. I could see a full musket-rack, table, books, telltale compass, an open chart, a revolver-case, and all the paraphernalia of a nautical drawing-room; but what riveted my eyes more than all were the sleeping-berths—one on each side—with their curtains drawn. It was useless gazing through the skylight; the only plan to see the occupants of these berths would be to open the curtains and look in. Another instant and perhaps the fresh look-out man would be on deck. I had no time to spare. If the venture was ever to be made, now was the moment to put it into execution. I hesitated no longer, but, rising up, stole to the companion and cautiously crept down the stairs, lifting foot after foot with a noiseless cat-like movement. When I reached the bottom, I found myself fronting another berth; but the loud snoring I could hear satisfied me that she whom I wanted was not there. I passed on to the cabin door. After listening a few minutes, I became satisfied the inmates, whoever they might be, were fast asleep. Little did those wrapped in the sleep of security dream that one who might prove their deadliest enemy was in their midst! I must have strangely resembled the midnight murderer, as with stealthy step I glided across the cabin, and, reaching the lamp, turned it low and dim. One of the sleepers moved uneasily. I shrunk down into the darkest spot under the table. Again all was quiet. I crawled up to the nearest berth, moved the curtain half an inch, and peeped in; the back of a man was visible. Slowly I crossed over to the opposite side, and, performing the same operation at the foot of the berth, saw a bearded face on the pillow. Marie was not in that cabin.

A small passage led from the after-part of the saloon, apparently dividing two after-cabins from each other. I quickly passed into it, and paused at a door upon my left. I listened for a little while to the profound, oppressive silence, in which I could plainly distinguish the palpitation of my own heart; at last I fancied I heard a female voice within. I was just pressing my ear to the panelling when a coarse ejaculation in a man's voice proceeding from the opposite cabin made me start back; the handle was grasped; I had just time to crouch down at the farthest end of the passage, when the door was rudely thrust open. A man came forth, evidently in a state of intoxication, and, fortunately turning away from my direction, shook his fist at the door I had just left; then muttering a curse, blundered into the outer cabin. I could hear him unfasten a locker, take something forth, and then followed a gurgling, clucking sound; the bottle was dashed down upon the table with a clash, and then the drunkard staggered up the companion-way on deck. Surely I heard a woman's voice again! I dared not remain to satisfy myself. I had not a second to lose; if the man should return before I could escape from the cabin, he would certainly discover me, and then all hope of rescuing Marie would be at an end. I hurried through the cabin and up the companion undiscovered, although an exclamation from one of the berths made me fear it was otherwise.

Upon reaching the deck, I found I was safe from any discovery upon the part of my intoxicated friend, for he was stretched at full length upon the deck, and already in the lethargic sleep of drunkenness. I stooped over him to scan his features, and while doing so plainly heard voices in the cabin. Undoubtedly I had been noticed passing through it. As I turned towards the forepart of the vessel, I saw the watchman coming straight towards me. He had most likely observed my movements, and was coming aft to ascertain what I was about, mistaking me for one of the crew. I snatched up my quilt from where I had left it, placed it over my head and shoulders, and pulling my trousers out of my boots, assumed the Chinaman as much as possible, and walked to meet him. Fortunately it was the darkest hour of the night—that immediately before the grey of morning,—and the thick clouds made it still more sombre. Until close up to me I did not perceive he was followed by a Chinaman; the man himself was a Portuguese. I loosened one of my revolvers, and taking it by the barrel under my quilt, prepared to fell him. These Macao Portuguese nearly all speak the Canton dialect, with which I was unacquainted; and as the Chinese portion of the lorcha's crew would certainly be Cantonese, I expected he would address me in their language, and discover me at once. To my surprise he spoke in the Pidgin English by saying:—

"What thing wantchee aft side, Jack?" To which I replied, with indignant emphasis,—

"Hi-ya! what ting? wantchee look see what-tim, ga-la!"

The Portuguese, seemingly dissatisfied, seized hold of my rug. Just then the Chinaman who had followed him interfered, and, pulling me away, exclaimed to him,—

"What for foolo pidgin? No wantchee play ga-la!"

The Portuguese still seemed suspicious; but, giving me a pull, Aling—for it was he—laid himself down as if to repose, and I quickly imitated him. Although this vigilant look-out now left us, for more than an hour he continued pacing the deck close by; daylight was fast approaching, and we were tied to the spot. Aling told me that when he saw the look-out come aft he suspected it was to overhaul me, and, thinking the man would speak to me in Cantonese, he followed him to assist me. It was principally for emergencies of this sort I had brought Aling with me.

At last the watchful mariner moved aft to see what time it was, I imagine; so, taking the opportunity, we both got forward, and, casting off the line, descended into the boat. It was impossible to attempt any further discovery that night, for although I had not been followed by the inmates of the outer cabin, it was evident they had heard me pass, or something had disturbed and made them wakeful; besides, it was too late now, for daylight was already breaking. Bitterly disappointed, I was compelled to order my companions to pull the boat away from under the lorcha's bows by hauling in the line, to weigh the grapnel, and to paddle inshore. Directly we reached the bank, I was met by my friends, who rushed forward to inquire what success I had met with; in a few words I told them all. At first they declared they would return with me to the lorcha, jump on board, force the cabin I had heard the female voice proceed from, and if Marie was there endeavour to carry her off; soon, however, they decided upon a more reasonable course. Our boat was too small to carry all; the sharp look-out would most likely discover us; there certainly would not be time to paddle the boat, heavily laden, up stream, and adopt my last manœuvre; and we were quite unequal to cope with the four or five Europeans and some ten or twelve Macao Portuguese, besides Canton men, on board. The thing was plainly impracticable; our only course was to wait until the next night, and then try the same plan over again. I had made several important discoveries. If Marie was on board, I knew where to find her. I had acquainted myself with the interior arrangements of the lorcha, and I was enabled to form a pretty accurate estimate of her crew; so that I had obtained some valuable facts to guide me upon a second attempt.

I returned to my vessel much disturbed in mind; the menacing gesture of the drunken brute I had seen in the passage, the voice proceeding from the cabin he appeared to threaten, the possibility that Marie was the inmate who had evidently excited and angered him, were painful reflections.

Soon after my return on board the day broke, and my companions retired to obtain the rest they had been without all night. For my part sleep was out of the question; I was in a complete fever, and unable to do or think of anything else than the probable result of my next attempt to discover Marie. The day was perfectly calm; undisturbed by a ripple, the broad expanse of the mighty Yang-tze glided swiftly past, glistening in the lurid sun like a sheet of liquid gold. Unable to proceed, through want of wind and the strength of the current, the lorcha remained at anchor; while many times during the weary day I landed, and, concealed amidst the bushes, watched her through my telescope. I was unable to discover anything. The day was very cold, and but few of the crew were about the decks. At last, towards evening, I made my last reconnoitre, accompanied by my friend and one of our crew,—the latter for the purpose of acting as a scout upon the movements of the lorcha; for, a light breeze having sprung up, it was just possible she might attempt to get under weigh.

It was upon this occasion I made a discovery that led to important results. My attention was attracted to her stern windows. It was a fortunate circumstance that we had gone rather below the vessel, as otherwise we could not have noticed them. After closely watching these ports until quite dark, and observing nothing of the interior of the after-cabin or its inmates, we returned to our vessel with sanguine hopes for the issue of the night's adventure.

My impatience became gratefully relieved in one way by the early setting of the moon, but, upon the other hand, the night continued bright and starlight,—in fact, so bright that it was evidently impossible to repeat my modus operandi of the previous night. Here was an apparently insurmountable difficulty, for I should never be able to approach the lorcha undiscovered! For several hours I remained in deep consultation with my friends; but after discussing every plan we could imagine, the fact remained patent, that none could be effected without attracting observation; unless, indeed, I could hit upon the exact moment for relieving the look-out man at some period between midnight and the dawn, and when the rest of the crew would almost certainly be fast asleep. I had almost decided to adopt this course, when my friend and Philip proposed another. Their idea was, to get our vessel under weigh in the middle of the night, tack down the river, and then get athwart hawse of the lorcha, as if by accident; drop an anchor foul of the lorcha's, and while all hands would be forward working to get the vessel clear, find an opportunity to prosecute my search. This certainly appeared feasible, and almost superior to the other plan; but, fortunately, while considering which to adopt, I hit upon something better than either. I suddenly remembered the ruse the Chinese pirates had attempted with me; prompted by this, I conceived a plan that in all respects promised to take me silently and undiscovered to the position I desired—under the stern of the lorcha. Directly I unfolded the project to my companions, they agreed with me that it was impossible to conceive a better.

It was already nearly midnight; we therefore commenced our preparations without delay. Upon this occasion, I decided to take my friend as a companion; we each dressed in black clothes, and besides taking our revolvers, placed a couple of rifles in the boat. In the meanwhile, according to my instructions, Philip had made the crew prepare a large drag, in the form of a cross, made with two short and broad spars, lashed together at their centres. When this was ready, the end of a long coir rope was made fast to the middle, the other end being fastened to our canoe, with a few fathoms to spare, which were passed ashore. The drag was now placed in our large boat, and being pulled far out on the river, was tossed overboard; this was signalled by showing a lamp. Directly I saw the light, I gave the word to start away: Philip and three of the crew, well armed, taking the end of the rope, walked down the bank, keeping our canoe close under its shadow, and progressing as fast as the drag at the other end of the rope was drifting with the current. After proceeding in this order for twenty minutes, during which we had slowly been hauling in the line till we had coiled nearly half of it in the canoe, we arrived fairly abeam of the lorcha, and, almost immediately afterwards, felt the jerk of the rope as it caught across her cable. Gradually easing it out, our companions dragged us carefully past the vessel—scarcely a hundred feet distant. At length the rope was all payed out to the bare end, and taking a small line, one end of which was retained by our companions ashore, we let go from the bank, and the current quickly swept us into the stream until we were checked by it in a direct line astern of the lorcha, now dimly visible in the distance. We had one Chinaman in the boat to steer and paddle as necessary, and slowly and cautiously we began hauling in the rope. We had not proceeded far, when we came up to the drag towing some 70 or 80 yards astern of the lorcha. To the upper arm of this we made fast a lantern with a candle and matches in it all ready to light in a moment, and then continued hauling upon the rope, which, as we took it inboard, was passed over the stern by the Chinaman, and pulled ashore to Philip and his men, by means of the small line.

When within fifty feet of the lorcha, we paused awhile, and watched closely to ascertain whether any of her crew were visible; we were soon satisfied that our approach could be conducted with perfect impunity, for her stern was high, and not only protected us from the observation of the look-out in the fore part of the vessel, but would hide us from the view of any one except a person coming to look directly over the taffrail. We could distinguish by the light from within, only half-subdued by thin drapery, four stern ports, two on each side; but to see who, or what, was in the cabins, it would be necessary to remove the curtains. Stealthily and silently we now urged ourselves forward, passing the rope along, hand over hand, till at last there we lay right under the lorcha's counter—like a pilot-fish under the lee of a huge shark. Erecting myself in the boat, I found that my shoulders reaching just to the sill of the ports, I could easily raise myself up; but, to my chagrin, found they were too small for me to pass through. It was evident that originally only two ports had existed, but they were now divided into four, by a slight stanchion, or framework, passing down the centre of each. The curtains of the starboard side were closely drawn, the glass part of a sliding sash closed, and it was impossible to see within. Slacking away the rope a little, I grasped the other part of it, and changed our position to the port counter.

The curtains were not so carefully closed at this side, and looking through the open space I was able to view the whole interior of the cabin. My first glance was attracted by the same man I had seen issue from it on the previous night; he was seated at a table, and I saw directly by his flushed face that he had been drinking again very freely. The light from a large lamp was brilliant, and I could observe his every expression with ease,—he was evidently labouring under strong excitement, and in a few moments I saw him pour out a stiff "second-mate's nip" of neat brandy, and gulp it down. His appearance became, if possible, still more inflamed, and several times he started up and went towards the cabin door, snatching up a key from the table. Upon each occasion, after hesitating and listening at the open door, with a fresh effort, and a drop of brandy to obtain resolution, he resumed his seat, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands savagely. His manner plainly told of some evil intention, and that he was endeavouring to raise his determination to put it into execution. The glass sash was not quite closed, and as he retired from the door for the last time I heard a bitter "carajo!" hiss through his teeth with fierce aspiration; followed by a few words uttered with energy in some Spanish patois, from which I could gather: "carajo! my proud beauty—you scorn my love, do you? Wait a little! wait a little, my lady; we shall change places soon."