Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin Part 16

[Sidenote: First news of the Indian Mutiny.]

It was at Ceylon that he caught the first ominous mutterings of the terrible storm which was about to burst over India, and which was destined so powerfully to affect his own expedition. The news of the first serious disturbance, the mutiny of a native Regiment at Meerut on the 11th of May, had just been brought by General Ashburnham, the commander of the expeditionary force, who had left Bombay a few hours after the startling tidings had been received through the telegraph. Lord Elgin's first feeling was that these disturbances in India furnished an additional reason for settling affairs in China with all possible speed, so as to be free to succour the Indian Government. It was only when fuller intelligence came from Lord Canning, with urgent entreaties for immediate help, that he determined, in consultation with General Ashburnham, who cordially entered into all his views on the subject, to sacrifice for the present the Chinese expedition, in order to pour into Calcutta all the troops that had been intended for Canton.

_Galle, Ceylon.--May 26th_.--This is a very charming place, so green that one almost forgets the heat. Ashburnham is here; we go on together to Singapore this evening. Bad news from India. I think that I may find in this news, if confirmed, a justification for pressing matters with vigour in China, and hastening the period at which I may hope to see you again.

_Steams.h.i.+p 'Singapore.'--May 27th_.--General Ashburnham brought with him a report of a most serious mutiny in the Bengal army. Perhaps he sees it in the worst light, because he has always (I remember his speaking to me on the subject at Balbirnie) predicted that something of the kind would occur; but, apart from his antic.i.p.ations, the matter seems grave enough. The mutineers have murdered Europeans, seized the fort and treasure of Delhi; and proclaimed the son of the Great Mogul.

There seems to be no adequate European force at hand to put them down, and the season is bad for operations by Europeans. Such is the sum and substance of this report, as conveyed by telegraph to Elphinstone, the evening before Ashburnham left Bombay. I was a good deal tempted to remain at Galle for a few hours, in order to await the arrival of the homeward-bound steamer from Calcutta, and to get further news; but, on reflection, I came to the conclusion, that the best course to take was to view this grave intelligence as an inducement to press on to China.

I wrote officially to Clarendon to say, that if this intelligence was confirmed, it might have a tendency to lower our prestige in the East, and to increase the influence of the party opposed to reason in China; that this state of affairs might make it more than ever necessary that I should endeavour to bring matters in China to an issue at the earliest moment, so as to antic.i.p.ate this mischief, and to place the regiments destined for China at the disposal of Government for service elsewhere.

_May 29th_.--We are now near the close of our voyage, and the serious work is about to begin. Up to this point I have heard nothing to throw any light upon my prospects. It is impossible to read the blue-books without feeling that we have often acted towards the Chinese in a manner which it is very difficult to justify; and yet their treachery and cruelty come out so strongly at times as to make almost anything appear justifiable.

[Sidenote: Penang.]

[Sidenote: Bishop of Labuan.]

[Sidenote: Character of Chinese.]

_Penang.--June 1st_.--We have just returned to our vessel after a few hours spent on sh.o.r.e; or, rather, I have just emerged from a bath in which I have been reclining for half an hour, endeavouring to cool myself after a hot morning's work. We made this place at about eleven last night, running into the harbour by the a.s.sistance of a bright moon. The water was perfectly smooth, and I stood on the paddle-box for some hours, watching the distant hills as they rose into sight and faded from our view, and the bright phosph.o.r.escent light of the sea cut by our prow, and which, despite the clearness of the night, was sometimes almost too brilliant to be gazed at. When we dropped our anchor, the captain still professed to doubt whether or not he would have to proceed immediately; but he gave me to understand that, if he could not accomplish this, he would not wish to leave until twelve to- day, so that I should in that case have an opportunity of landing and ascending the mountain summit. On this hint I had a bed prepared on deck (fearing the heat of the cabins), and tried, though rather in vain, to take a few hours' sleep. At five A.M. I was told that the Resident, Mr. Lewis, was on board, that carriages and horses were ready, and that, if I wished to mount the hill, the time had arrived for the operation. I immediately made a hasty toilette, and set forth accompanied by the General, some of the others following. We were conveyed in a carriage three miles, to the foot of the hill, and on pony-back as much more up it, through a dense tropical vegetation which reminded me of my Jamaica days. At the end of the ride we arrived at the Government bungalow, and found one of the most magnificent views I ever witnessed; in the foreground this tropical luxuriance, and beyond, far below, the glistening sea studded with s.h.i.+ps and boats innumerable, over which again the Malay peninsula with its varied outline. I had hardly begun to admire the scene, when a gentleman in a blue flannel sort of dress, with a roughish beard and a cigar in his mouth, made his appearance, and was presented to me as the Bishop of Labuan! He was there endeavouring to recruit his health, which has suffered a good deal. He complained of the damp of the climate, while admitting its many charms, and seemed to think that he owed to the dampness a very bad cold by which he was afflicted. Soon afterwards his wife joined us. They were both at Sarawak when the last troubles took place, and must have had a bad time of it. The Chinese behaved well to them; indeed they seemed desirous to make the Bishop their leader. His converts (about fifty) were stanch, and he has a school at which about the same number of Chinese boys are educated.

These facts pleaded in his favour, and it says something for the Chinese that they were not insensible to these claims. They committed some cruel acts, but they certainly might have committed more. They respected the women except one (Mrs. C., whom they wounded severely), and they stuck by the Bishop until they found that he was trying to bring Brooke back. They then turned upon him, and he had to run for his life. The Bishop gave me an interesting description of his school of Chinese boys. He says they are much more like English boys than other Orientals: that when a new boy comes they generally get up a fight, and let him earn his place by his prowess. But there is no managing them without pretty severe punishments. Indeed, he says that if a boy be in fault the others do not at all like his not being well punished; they seem to think that it is an injustice to the rest if this is omitted. I am about to do with a strange people; so much to admire in them, and yet with a perversity of disposition which makes it absolutely necessary, if you are to live with them at all, to treat them severely, sometimes almost cruelly. They have such an overweening esteem for themselves, that they become unbearable unless they are constantly reminded that others are as good as they.... The Bishop seemed to think that it would be a very good thing if the Rajah were to go home for a time, and leave the government to his nephew, whom he praises much.... When we came down from the mountain we went to the house of the Resident on the sh.o.r.e, and there I found all the world of Penang a.s.sembled to meet me; among them a quant.i.ty of Chinese in full mandarin costume. It was not easy, under the circ.u.mstances, to make conversation for them, but it was impossible not to be pleased with their good-humoured faces, on which there rests a perpetual grin. We had a grand 'spread,' in which fresh fish, mangosteen, and a horrible fruit whose name I forget (_dorian_), but whose smell I shall ever remember, played a conspicuous part. After breakfast we returned to our s.h.i.+p to be broiled for about an hour, then to bathe, and now (after that I have inserted these words in my journal to you) to finish dressing.

[Sidenote: Singapore.]

_June 3rd._--Just arrived at Singapore. Urgent letters from Canning to send him troops. I have not a man. 'Shannon' not arrived.

_Singapore.--June 5th._--I am on land, which is at any rate one thing gained. But I am only about eighty miles from the equator, and about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. The Java wind, too, is blowing, which is the hot wind in these quarters, so that you may imagine what is the condition of my pores. I sent my last letter immediately after landing, and had little time to add a word from land, as I found a press of business, and a necessity for writing to Clarendon by the mail; the fact being, that I received letters from Canning, imploring me to send troops to him from the number destined for China. As we have no troops yet, and do not well know when we may have any, it was not exactly an easy matter to comply with this request. However, I did what I could, and, in concert with the General, have sent instructions far and wide to turn the transports back, and give Canning the benefit of the troops for the moment.

[Sidenote: Diversion of troops to India.]

The importance of the determination, thus simply announced, can hardly be exaggerated. 'Tell Lord Elgin,' wrote Sir William Peel, the heroic leader of the celebrated Naval Brigade, after the neck of the rebellion was broken, 'tell Lord Elgin that it was the Chinese Expedition that relieved Lucknow, relieved Cawnpore, and fought the battle of the 6th December.' Nor would it be easy to praise too highly the large and patriotic spirit which moved the heads of the Expedition to an act involving at once so generous a renunciation of all selfish hopes and prospects, and so bold an a.s.sumption of responsibility. Proofs were not wanting afterwards that the sacrifice was appreciated by the Queen and the country; but these were necessarily deferred, and it was all the more gratifying, therefore, to Lord Elgin to receive, at the time and on the spot, the following cordial expressions of approval from a distinguished public servant, with whom he was himself but slightly acquainted--Sir H. Ward, then Governor of Ceylon:--

"You may think me impertinent in volunteering an opinion upon what in the first instance only concerns you and the Queen and Lord Canning. But having seen something of public life during a great part of my own, which is now fast verging into the "sere and yellow leaf," I may venture to say that I never knew a n.o.bler thing than that which you have done in preferring the safety of India to the success of your Chinese negotiations. If I know anything of English public opinion, this single act will place you higher, in general estimation as a statesman, than your whole past career, honourable and fortunate as it has been. For it is not every man who would venture to alter the destination of a force upon the despatch of which a Parliament has been dissolved, and a Government might have been superseded.

It is not every man who would consign himself for many months to political inaction in order simply to serve the interests of his country. You have set a bright example at a moment of darkness and calamity; and, if India can be saved, it is to you that we shall owe its redemption, for nothing short of the Chinese expedition could have supplied the means of holding our ground until further reinforcements are received."

For the time the disappointment was great. His occupation was gone, and with it all hope of a speedy end to his labours. Six weary months he waited, powerless to act and therefore powerless to negotiate, and feeling that every week's delay tended to aggravate the difficulties of the situation in China.

_Singapore.--June 5th._--It is, of course, difficult to conjecture how this Indian business may affect us in China, and I shall await our next news from India with no little anxiety. Await it, I say, for there is no prospect of my getting on from here at present. There is no word of the 'Shannon' and till she arrives I am a fixture.

[Sidenote: Convict establishment.]

_June 6th._--This morning the Governor took me on foot to the convict establishment, at which some 2,500 murderers, &c., from India are confined, and some fifty women, who are generally, after about two years of penal servitude, let out on condition that they consent to marry convicts. I cannot say that their appearance made me envy the convicts much, although some of them were perhaps better-looking than the women one meets out of the prison. In truth, one meets very few women at all, and those that sees are far from attractive. _Au reste_, the convicts go about apparently very little guarded, with a chain round the waist and each leg. The church, which we afterwards visited, is rather an imposing edifice, and is being built by convict labour, at the cost of the Indian Government.

[Sidenote: Opium-shops.]

_June 8th._--This morning I visited, in my walk, some of the horrid opium-shops, which we are supposed to do so much to encourage. They are wretched dark places, with little lamps, in which the smokers light their pipes, glimmering on the shelves made of boards, on which they recline and puff until they fall asleep. The opium looks like treacle, and the smokers are haggard and stupefied, except at the moment of inhaling, when an unnatural brightness sparkles from their eyes. After escaping from these horrid dens, I went to visit a Chinese merchant who lives in a very good house, and is a man of considerable wealth. He speaks English, and never was in China, having been born in Malacca. I had tea, and was introduced to his mother, wife, and two boys and two girls. He intends to send one of his sons to England for education. He denounces opium and the other vices of his countrymen, and their secret societies. All the well-to-do Chinese agree in this, but they have not moral courage to come out against them. Indeed, I suppose they could hardly do so without great risk.... Alas! still no sign of the 'Shannon.'

[Sidenote: Captain Peel.]

[Sidenote: Ignorance of the Chinese language.]

_June 11th._--At half-past four this morning the 'Shannon' arrived.

Captain Peel came up to breakfast. He has made a quick pa.s.sage, as he came almost all the way under canvas: such were his orders from the Admiralty. He says that his s.h.i.+p is the fastest sailer he has ever been on board of; that he has the best set of officers; in short, all is very cheery with him. I told him I should not start till after the arrival of the steamer from England, and he requires that time to get ready, as it appears that he had only twelve hours' notice that he was to take me when he left England. On Tuesday, at noon, the Chinese arrived with an address to me. I had a reply prepared, which was translated into Malay, and read by a native. It is a most extraordinary circ.u.mstance that, in this place, where there are some 60,000 or 70,000 Chinese, and where the Europeans are always imagining that they are plotting, &c., there is not a single European who can speak their language. No doubt this is a great source of misunderstanding. The last row, which did _not_ end in a ma.s.sacre, but which might have done so, originated in the receipt of certain police regulations from Calcutta. These regulations were ill translated, and published after Christmas Day. The Chinese, believing that they authorised the police to enter their houses at all periods, to interfere with their amus.e.m.e.nts at the New Year, &c., shut up their shops, which is their const.i.tutional mode of expressing dissatisfaction. It was immediately inferred in certain quarters that the Chinese intended, out of sympathy with the Cantonese, to murder all the Europeans. Luckily the Governor thought it advisable to explain to them what the obnoxious ordinances really meant before proceeding to exterminate them, and a few hours of explanation had the effect of inducing them to re-open their shops, and go on quietly with their usual avocations. Just the same thing happened at Penang. There too, because the Chinamen showed some disinclination to obey regulations of police which interfered with their amus.e.m.e.nts and habits, a plot against the Europeans was immediately suspected, and great indignation expressed because it was not put down with _vigour_!

[Sidenote: The Sultan of Joh.o.r.e.]

[Sidenote: _Freres Chretiens_.]

[Sidenote: _Soeurs_.]

_June 13th_.--I have just been interrupted to go and see the Sultan of Joh.o.r.e. These princes in this country, and indeed all over the East, are spoilt from their childhood, all their pa.s.sions indulged and fostered by their parents, who say, 'What is the use of being a prince, if he may not have more _ghee_, etc. etc. than his neighbours?' I do not see what can be done for them. At the school I visited this morning are two sultan's sons (of Queddah), but they were at home for some holidays, when they will probably be ruined. During my morning's walk I heard something like the sound of a school in a house adjoining, and I proposed to enter and inspect. I found an establishment of _Freres chretiens_, and one of them (an Irishman) claimed acquaintance, as having been with Bishop Phelan when he visited me in Canada. We struck up a friends.h.i.+p accordingly, and I told him that if there were any _Soeurs_ I should like to see them. He introduced me to the Vicar Apostolic, a Frenchman, and we went to the establishment of the _Soeurs_. I found the _Superieure_ a very superior person, evidently with her heart in the work, and ready for any fate to which it might expose her, but quiet and cheerful. I told her that a devout lady in Paris had expressed a fear that my mission to China would put an end to martyrdom in that country. She smiled, and said that she thought there would always be on this earth martyrdom in abundance. The Sisters educate a number of orphan girls as well as others. All the missionary zeal in these quarters seems to be among the French priests. Some one once said that it was not wonderful that young men took away so much learning from Oxford as they left so little behind them. The same may, I think, be said of the French religion. It seems all intended for exportation.

[Sidenote: View from Singapore.]

_June 15th_.--I see from my window that a French steamer has just come into the harbour and dropped her anchor. This reminds me that I have not yet told you what I see from this window--if I may apply the term window to a row of Venetian blinds running all round the house or bungalow, for this residence is not dignified by the t.i.tle 'house.' I am on an eminence about 200 feet above the sea; immediately below me the town; on one side a number of houses with dark red roofs, surrounded with trees, looking very like a flower-garden, and confirming me in my opinion of the beauty of such roofs when so situated; on the other, the same red-roofed houses _without trees_, which makes all the difference. Beyond, the harbour, or rather anchorage, filled with s.h.i.+ps, the mighty 'Shannon' in the centre--a triton among the minnows. Beyond, again, a wide opening to the sea, with lowish sh.o.r.es, rocky, and covered with wood, running out on either side. Such is the prospect ever before me, a very fine one during the day, still more interesting at night when it all sparkles with lights, and the great tropical moon looks calmly down on the whole.

[Sidenote: On board the 'Shannon.']

_H.M.S. 'Shannon.'--June 24th_.--I daresay you will consider me an object of envy when I describe to you where I am,--on board of a magnificent s.h.i.+p-of-war, carrying sixty 68-pounders, our foremast and mainmast sails set, and gliding through the water with just motion enough to tell us that the pulse of the great sea is beating. The temperature of the air is high, but the day is somewhat cloudy, and the sails throw a shadow on the deck. The only thing I regret is, that having no p.o.o.p, the high bulwarks close us in and shut out both the air and prospect. One can only get these by climbing up on a sort of standing-place on the side.... Our departure from Singapore was very striking.... Not only were all the troops and volunteers under arms, with Chinamen and merchants in crowds, but (may I mention it) the fair ladies of Singapore were drawn up in a row to give us a parting salute. We moved off in our boats, under a salute from the battery, which was repeated by the 'Spartan' as I pa.s.sed her, and by the 'Shannon' when I got on board, both these vessels manning yards. The French admiral honoured me also with a salute as I pa.s.sed him after getting under weigh, although the sun had already set.

_July 1st_.--Another month begun. Last night, at dinner, we were startled by hearing that we seemed to be running on a rock or shoal, where no rock or shoal was known to exist. We backed our screw, and finally went over the alarming spot, and on sounding found no bottom.

The sea was discoloured, but whether it was by the sp.a.w.n of fish or sea-weed we could not discover. Peel took up water in a bucket, but could discover nothing. If we had not been a screw, and had had nothing but sails to rely on, we should have kept clear of this apparent danger, and the result would have been that a shoal would have been marked on the charts, where, in point of fact, no shoal exists. Captain Keppel's adventure makes captains cautious.

[Sidenote: Arrival at Hongkong.]

_Hong-Kong.--July 3rd_.--I am headachy and f.a.gged, for I have had some hours of the most fatiguing of all things--a succession of interviews, beginning with the Admiral, General, &c,... I found the Admiral strong on the point that Canton is the only place where we ought to fight.... However, I hope we may get off to the North in about ten days,--as soon as we have sent off these letters, and got (as we ought) two mails from home.

_July 9th_.--An interval ... during which I have been doing a good many things, my greatest enjoyment and pleasure being the receipt at last of two sets of letters from home.... I have a great heap of despatches, some of which seem rather likely to perplex me. I daresay, however, that I shall see my way through the mist in a day or two....

I had a levee last evening, which was largely attended. The course which I am about to follow does not square with the views of the merchants, but I gave an answer to their address, which gave them for the moment wonderful satisfaction.... A doc.u.ment, taken in one of the Chinese junks lately captured, states that 'Devils' heads are fallen in price,'--an announcement not strictly complimentary, but rea.s.suring to you as regards our safety.

[Sidenote: Change of plans.]

Up to this time Lord Elgin had not entirely given up the hope that the troops which he had detached to Calcutta might be restored to him before the setting in of winter should make it impossible to proceed, as his instructions required, to the mouth of the Peiho, and there open negotiations with the Court of Pekin. But on the 14th of July came letters from Lord Canning, written in a strain of deeper anxiety than any that had preceded; and giving no hope that any troops could be spared from India for many months to come. At the same time Lord Elgin learned that the French, on whose co-operation he counted, could not act until the arrival of the chief of the mission, Baron Gros, who was not expected to reach China till the end of September. In this state of things, to remain at Hong-Kong was worse than useless. The sight of his inaction, and the knowledge of the reasons which enforced it, could not fail to damage the position of England with the public of China, both Chinese and foreign. He formed, therefore, the sudden resolution to proceed in person to Calcutta, where he would be within easier reach of telegraphic instructions from England; where he would have the advantage of personal communication with Lord Canning, and of learning for himself at what time he might expect to have any troops at his command; and where, moreover, his appearance might have a moral effect in support of the Government greater than the amount of any material force at his disposal.

[Sidenote: Sails for Calcutta.]

_H. M. S 'Shannon'--July 19th._--I wonder what you will think when you receive this letter; that is, if I succeed in despatching it from the point where I wish to post it. Will you think me mad? or what will your view of my proceedings be?... Here I am actually on my way to Calcutta! To Calcutta! you will exclaim in surprise. The reasons for this step are so numerous, that I can hardly attempt to enumerate them. I found myself at Hong-kong, without troops and without competent representatives of our allies (America and France) to concert with; doomed either to _aborder_ the Court of Pekin alone, without the power of acting vigorously if I met a repulse, or to spend three months at Hong-kong doing nothing, and proclaiming to the whole world that I am waiting for the Frenchman; i.e. that England can do nothing without France. I considered the great objections which existed to either of these courses. _Sur ces entrefaites_, came further letters from Canning, begging for more help from me, and showing that things are even worse with him than they were when I first heard from him. It occurred to me that I might occupy the three months well in running up to Calcutta, taking with me what a.s.sistance I can collect for him and obtaining thereby an opportunity of conferring with him, and learning from him what chance I have of getting before the winter the troops which I have detached to his support. Sir M. Seymour approved the plan warmly. It occurred to me on Tuesday evening, and on Thursday I was under weigh. Alas! _l'homme propose, mais Dieu dispose_! The monsoon is against us, and as this s.h.i.+p is practically useless as a steamer, as she can only carry coals for five days, we are beating against the wind, and making little progress. Perhaps my whole plans may fail, because I have the misfortune to be in one of H.M.'s s.h.i.+ps instead of in a good merchant steamer, which would be going at ten miles an hour in a direct line, while we are going at six in an oblique one. However, we must hope for the best.

Whether we are to have peace or war with China, either object will be much more effectually accomplished, when the European forces are acting together, than when we are alone; the Russians meanwhile, no doubt, hinting to the Emperor that we are in a bad way in India. The plan, then, if we can accomplish it, is this: To run up as fast as I can to Calcutta, and to return so as to meet Baron Gros, who is not expected till the middle of September. There will just be time to communicate with the Court of Pekin before winter. I have mentioned the reasons for these proceedings, derived from my own position; but, of course, I am mainly influenced by a consideration for Canning. In both his letters he has expressed a desire to see me, and I am told that my appearance there with what the Indian public will consider the first of a large force, will produce a powerful moral effect. I ought to be there at least two months before he can receive a man from England.

[Sidenote: Birthday.]

_July 20th_.[5]--Would that I were at home to-day! You say that I do not appreciate anniversaries, but it is chiefly because it is so sad when the days come when they cannot be celebrated as of yore. 'Nessun maggior dolore.' Do not anniversaries stir this great fountain of sadness? I feel sad when I look at this inhospitable sea, and think of the smiling countenances with which I should have been surrounded at home, and the joyous laugh when papa, with affected surprise, detected the present wrapped up carefully in a paper parcel on the breakfast table. Is it not lawful to be sad?

_July 25th_.--The consequences of being at so great a distance from head-quarters are very singular, _e.g._ in this case I shall not hear whether the Government approve or not of this move of mine until it has become matter of history; until, in all probability, I have carried out my plan of visiting the Peiho with the French Amba.s.sador.

It certainly contrasts very strongly with the position of a diplomatic functionary in Europe now, when reference is made by telegraph to headquarters in every case of difficulty.... This seems a very solitary sea. We have pa.s.sed in all, I think, two s.h.i.+ps. This morning once or twice we have met a log floating with one or two birds standing upon it. Yesterday great excitement was created by the discovery of a cask floating on the surface of the sea. Telescopes were _braques_ from every part of the s.h.i.+p upon this unhappy cask, which went bobbing up and down, very unconscious of the sensation it was creating. This incident will convey to you an idea of how monotonous our life is.

_July 27th_.--At about four yesterday another excitement, greater than that created by the floating cask. Peel informed me that there was a steamer in sight, coming towards us. Many were the speculations as to what she could be. It was generally agreed that she was the 'Transit,'

as she was due about this time. As we neared her, however, she dwindled in size, and proved a rather dirty-looking merchant-craft with an auxiliary screw. On asking whence she came, she informed us that she was from Calcutta, and that she had a letter for me. It proved to be from Canning, in no respect more encouraging than his former letters, and therefore, in so far, confirmatory of the propriety of my present move.

_July 31st.--En route_ for Calcutta. We reached Singapore on the 28th, at about two P.M. I landed and went to my old quarters at the Governor's. I found it deliciously cool, much more so than it was during my former visit.... My friends at Singapore were very cordial in their welcome of me, and the merchants immediately drew up an address expressive of their satisfaction at my move on Calcutta. We have taken on board 100 men of the detachment of the 90th which was on board the 'Transit,' and put the remainder into the 'Pearl,' so that we are crammed to the hilt. Please G.o.d we may reach Calcutta in about a week or less, and then a new chapter begins. Just as we were starting yesterday, an opium-s.h.i.+p from Calcutta arrived, and brought me a letter and despatch from Canning, more urgent and gloomy than any of the preceding ones. The 'Simoom' and 'Himalaya' had both arrived, but he was clamorous for more help, and broadly tells me that I must not expect to get any of my men back. So here I am deprived of the force on which I was to rely in China!... Canning's letter is dated the 21st, and therefore contains the latest intelligence. Nothing can be worse. I am happy to say that I have already sent to him even more than he has asked.... I trust that I may do some good, but of course things are so bad that one fears that it may be too late to hope that any great moral effect can be produced by one's arrival. However, I have with me about 1,700 fighting men, and perhaps we may have more, if we find a transport in the Straits, and take it in tow.

[Sidenote: Arrival at Calcutta.]

On the 8th August the 'Shannon' reached Calcutta. Her arrival is thus described by Mr. Oliphant[6]:--