The total destruction of the Chinese squadron of war-junks, on the day of the action of Chuenpee, (7th January,) under the orders of Admiral Kwan, completed the discomfiture of the Chinese by sea and by land. The engagement took place in Anson's Bay, which has already been described as lying between Chuenpee and Anunghoy. The Nemesis here took a most distinguished part; and some of the boats of the Calliope, Hyacinth, Larne, Sulphur, and Starling, co-operated with her in the action, in which Lieutenants Watson and Harrison, and other officers of the Calliope and Larne, deservedly won their laurels.

At the bottom of Anson's Bay was the entrance of a small river, unknown until now, having a small island at its mouth, somewhat on the Chuenpee side. Within this, and in a measure protected by a sand-bar which ran out from it, lay the Chinese fleet of about fifteen war-junks, moored in a good position in shallow water, so as to prevent the near approach of our ships. Directions had been given to Captain Herbert, of the Calliope, to make arrangements for the attack of these war-junks, as soon as the defences on Chuenpee should have fallen. The moment, therefore, that it was perceived on board the Nemesis, as she ran up towards the lower battery, and poured in her grape and canister, that the upper fort had fallen, and that the lower one could not longer hold out, she hastened, without a moment's delay, to the attack of the enemy's squadron. Full steam was set on, without waiting to see what other measures might be taken elsewhere to effect the object.

In her anxiety to secure the post of honour, the Nemesis rounded the point of Chuenpee a little too close, and struck rather heavily upon a rocky reef running out some distance from it, but upon which it was thought that there was still water enough to enable her to float safely. She did indeed pass over it, but not without striking; but her iron frame did not hang upon it as a wooden one would probably have done, and she proceeded, without even stopping her engines. That the force of the blow however was considerable, and would probably have seriously damaged a wooden vessel, is shewn by the fact of her having the outer paddle-ring of one of the wheels broken, together with two of the long arms attached to it. It is evident that a blow which would cause such injury to iron would have done much more serious damage to wood.

About this time, Captain Belcher, of the Sulphur, joined her, with two of his ship's boats, anxious to partake of the honour of the affair. A few of the Sulphur's seamen also came on board. As she pushed along, she was also reinforced by Lieutenant Kellett, of the Starling, who brought his gig, or whale-boat, and subsequently did good service.

As they approached the position in which the Chinese junks were drawn up, it was easily perceived that it had been well chosen, with scarcely more than five feet water round the vessels, and that, in fact, they could not be attacked in front, except by boats. However, the Nemesis, having the great advantage of drawing less than six feet water, was able to approach near enough to bring her two 32-pounder pivot-guns to bear within good range. Just at this moment also a large boat, or pinnace, of the Larne, was observed, making its way round the outside of the little island, with a view to cut off the junks in the rear.

The boldness of this manoeuvre, under the command of Lieutenant Harrison, was much admired; and, indeed, the dashing way in which many similar attacks were made on other occasions during the war took the Chinese by surprise, and struck them with a wholesome terror, even before they came to close quarters.

One of the most formidable engines of destruction which any vessel, particularly a steamer, can make use of is the Congreve rocket, a most terrible weapon when judiciously applied, especially where there are combustible materials to act upon. The very first rocket fired from the Nemesis[21] was seen to enter the large junk against which it was directed, near that of the admiral, and almost the instant afterwards it blew up with a terrific explosion, launching into eternity every soul on board, and pouring forth its blaze like the mighty rush of fire from a volcano. The instantaneous destruction of the huge body seemed appalling to both sides engaged. The smoke, and flame, and thunder of the explosion, with the broken fragments falling round, and even portions of dissevered bodies scattering as they fell, were enough to strike with awe, if not with fear, the stoutest heart that looked upon it.

It is related that, at the battle of the Nile, when the French admiral's ship, L'Orient, blew up, both of the fiercely-fighting foes paused in horror at the dreadful catastrophe, and neither side renewed the fight for at least ten minutes afterwards. So here also, although the explosion was far less violent, and the contending parties comparatively trifling in number, and far less excited by the contest, there was a momentary pause; the very suddenness of the catastrophe added something to the awe and rejoicing, combined, which it excited. The rocket had penetrated into the magazine of the junk, or had ignited some of the loose powder too often scattered carelessly about the decks by the Chinese gunners. They naturally felt that the same fate might readily befall any of the other junks; and, after some discharges of round shot had been thrown into the nearest junks, (four of them were afterwards found lodged in the admiral's junk,) their crews were observed endeavouring to escape on shore, some upon the little island, and others upon Chuenpee; while, at the same time, the junks were all cut away by those remaining on board, in order that they might drift on shore, and enable the rest to escape.

The Chinese hauled down their colours on board their junks at about half-past eleven, but continued firing afterwards. At about twelve o'clock, the boats of the Nemesis, in company with the others which were present, put off to board the junks. Only two of the smaller ones succeeded in getting away up a small branch of the river, while two more escaped for the moment up another principal branch to a large town, but were subsequently captured.

Some of the junks drifted on shore; and, as there could be no utility in saving them, they were all successively set on fire, by order of Captain Belcher, and ultimately blew up. In some of the junks which were not yet quite abandoned by their crews, the poor Chinamen, as the English sailors boarded them on one side, rushed wildly over on the opposite one, or let themselves down by the stern chains, clinging to the ship's rudder. Others, as the fire gained upon their junk, retreated before it, and continued hanging to the yet untouched portions of it, until the flames advancing upon them rapidly, they were obliged to throw water over their own bodies to enable them to bear the intense heat, still desperately clinging to their fate, more from fear of ill-treatment, if they should be taken prisoners, than from any rational hope of being saved. In many instances they would not be saved; in others, they could not, and were destroyed as their junk blew up.

On the following day, the principal part of the guns were recovered, altogether upwards of eighty in number, of which eight or ten were handsome brass Portuguese guns, 6, 9, and 12-pounders.

Altogether, eleven junks were destroyed on the spot. Scarcely had this duty been completed by the different boats engaged, when the Nemesis hastened on up the river, and at the distance of about three miles, came upon a large town, where she found two war-junks moored close to the shore, but abandoned by their crews. The consternation of the people was extreme; they were seen running away from the town in all directions; the surrounding hills were crowded with the anxious and astonished gazers, wondering what was going to happen next; never, of course, having either seen or heard of a "devil ship" before, and well knowing that her visit could only be a hostile one. It was enough that they had already heard of the total destruction of their fleet at the river's mouth. The place was not at all fortified, not a shot being fired on either side.

The tide was now beginning to fall, and as the water was not deep, and the bar would soon become impassable, and the day was already far advanced, it was thought better to return without exploring the river higher up. Accordingly, taking in tow the two junks, the Nemesis again descended the river; but one of the junks getting aground on the bar at the entrance, was obliged to be left behind, while the other was taken safely down, and soon after five p.m., the Nemesis joined the squadron off Chuenpee, and received the thanks of the commodore for the services she had rendered during the day. She had received no important damage, the paddle-box only having been injured by a well-directed shot from one of the junks.

It must have been a fine sight for the troops who were in possession of Chuenpee, to witness from the top of the hill the encounter with, and total destruction of, this fleet; the numerous burning masses, and the loud explosions as they blew up; with the boats pulling about among them, lighted by the glare of the fires. All this, added to the excitement which always attends the being a looker-on while others are actors in deeds of danger, must have formed a most animating spectacle. The scenery about Anson's Bay is moreover bold and picturesque, and the limited space in which the affair took place, must have added something to the interest it awakened.

To the Chinese this had been, in all respects, a most disastrous day. Their stone walls and their wooden walls had been alike destroyed; and, although they might before have dreaded us by sea, they had never until now had an opportunity of testing the power of Europeans on land.

On this day, the 7th of January, 1841, the native Indian troops and the Royal Marines constituted considerably more than two-thirds of the whole force employed on shore.

The loss of many hundred killed and wounded on the Chinese side, with something less than forty wounded and none killed on our side, shews rather that the Chinese were deficient in proper weapons to match their foes, than wanting in personal bravery to meet them in the fight; and, as they were not yet acquainted with the European mode of sparing an unresisting enemy, they suffered great loss from unsupported and useless resistance, when timely submission would have saved many lives. They exasperated our troops without a chance of benefiting themselves.

The Chinese admiral, the fine old Kwan, lost the red ball or button of his cap, the emblem of his rank, during the encounter with the junks. It was reported that he wished to meet his death at the hands of his foe, and was with some difficulty borne off by his attendants; but this fate was reserved for him on a future occasion, and he shewed himself a chivalrous and brave man. The loss of his ball or button, which has certain marks upon it which probably indicate that it is conferred by imperial favour as an emblem of rank, seemed naturally to occasion him the greatest possible anxiety and trouble. He, in fact, made application for it to be returned to him, if it chanced to have been found; and it is gratifying to know that, through the intervention of Captain Elliot, her majesty's plenipotentiary, it was recovered and generously restored to him.

The total number of guns taken or rendered unserviceable during the operations of this day, ashore and afloat, amounted to one hundred and seventy-three pieces, including eighty-two in the junks, of which a few were brass, but mostly of small calibre.

The junks with which the Nemesis was engaged in Anson's Bay were provided with quite a new sort of boarding-nettings, if they can be so called. Probably old Admiral Kwan, whose reputation as a seaman was not very great, had heard that English ships of war were sometimes provided with nets when going into action; and, therefore, without knowing very well what might be the purpose of them, he determined to have them likewise. But he made a sad mistake concerning the object for which they were intended. He very naturally thought, that, in the position which he had taken up in shallow water, only the boats of the squadron could come close to him, and he hit upon the bright notion of trying to catch them with his nets, just as a poacher catches his sleeping game by throwing a net over them. A number of strong fishing-nets were fastened all round the sides of the junks, not extended so as to impede any one trying to get on board, but triced up outside over each of the guns, in such a way, that, when our boats should come alongside, the nets were to be thrown over them, men and all; and thus our jolly tars were to be caught like hares in their form, and handed over to the tender mercies of the emperor.

No sooner, however, did the guns of the Nemesis open fire, than the nets were all forgotten in their fear of the shot and the rockets; and, long before the boats could get alongside, the defenders and men-catchers were glad to be off, to avoid being themselves caught.

A more unwieldy-looking machine, or one less calculated for efficient service at sea, than the old-fashioned junks, can scarcely be conceived. Although, since the commencement of the war, they have gradually improved them very much in the fashion of the hull, the masts and sails, and all that appertains to the rigging of a vessel, are very little different from what they have hitherto been.

It should be noticed, that the boats and smaller rigged vessels of the Chinese are generally very much superior to their large junks in form and convenience of arrangement, and often sail very well. The family to whom the boat belongs lives entirely on board, and, for the combined purposes for which their boats are generally used, perhaps no arrangement could be better adapted for making the most of a limited space; and they are, moreover, kept remarkably clean.

The war-junks are of different sizes, and have guns varying in number from four to fourteen, and even more, mounted upon them, of various calibre, some of foreign make, but principally Chinese. The smaller junks are also adapted for oars or sweeps, of which they sometimes can work as many as twenty on either side. The crew are further provided with a great number of spears, swords, matchlocks, and frequently large jingals, not unlike our musquetoons, fitted with a rest upon the bulwarks of the vessel, so as to give the power of taking a steady aim. There are generally a large number of round shields on board, made in a saucer-like fashion, and about two and a half to three feet in diameter. They are composed of ratans, or canes, strongly twisted or woven in together, and are so elastic, that it would be very difficult to cut through them with a sword; and even a musket-ball fired from a long distance, and hitting them at all in a slanting direction, would be turned off. They are usually hung all round the bulwarks, resting upon the top and outside of them, giving a very striking appearance.

A large junk puts one very much in mind of one of the old Roman galleys, only it is less efficiently constructed for venturing away from land, and is not unfrequently gaudily ornamented with green and yellow colours.

Several improvements have been adopted by the Chinese since the commencement of the war. They had constructed a number of gun-boats for the defence of the river higher up, upon European models; and, towards the close of the war, they built one or two large junks, which they called frigates, with great improvements in shape and general arrangement, and regular port-holes for the guns on the deck below, and with heavy guns, too, mounted in them. One of these we saw near the Bogue, after the peace, mounting thirty-six guns, all of foreign manufacture, many of them 9 and 12-pounder iron guns, made by Fawcett, of Liverpool, and purchased either at Macao or at Singapore. The junk was very clean, and in good order, painted green, and coppered; and, with the exception of the masts and sails, which were in the old style, she looked very well. This vessel was said to have been constructed by order of Tinqua, one of the Hong merchants, who has distinguished himself by his zeal in defence of his country; and it was by him presented to the emperor, together with a European barque, and a brig, rather the worse for wear in the merchant service, which he purchased at considerable cost.

But the most remarkable improvement of all, and which shewed the rapid stride towards a great change which they were daily making, as well as the ingenuity of the Chinese character, was the construction of several large wheeled vessels, which were afterwards brought forward against us with great confidence, at the engagement at Woosung, the last naval affair of the war, and were each commanded by a mandarin of rank, shewing the importance they attached to their new vessels. This, too, was so far north as the Yangtze Keang, where we had never traded with them; so that the idea must have been suggested to them by the reports they received concerning the wonderful power of our steamers or wheeled vessels.

To anticipate a little, it may here be mentioned, that the vessels had wooden wheels, very like an undershot mill-wheel, which were moved by machinery inside the vessel, worked by a sort of capstan by manual labour, the crew walking it round and round, just like walking up an anchor on board a man-of-war; the horizontal revolution was turned into the upright one by strong wooden cog-wheels, upon regular mechanical principles.

When once the spirit of change and improvement has taken hold of the Chinese, it is impossible to say where it will stop among so ingenious and indefatigable a people. Even the emperor himself has ordered still greater changes to be made since the peace, and has directed that "the best materials for building ships shall be procured from all parts of the world; and that, as only ships built on European principles can contend with European ships, they must gradually learn to adopt European models themselves. But, as this can only be effected by time, and the ships are required now to suppress the pirates which infest his coast, they are at once to purchase foreign ships and learn to exercise their crews."

To return from this short digression, we may now ask what sort of a report was made by Admiral Kwan to his mighty master, upon the subject of these first actions below the Bogue—the first great collision between the power and science of the west and the self-confidence of the remote east. Keshen, clear-sighted as he certainly was, could not fail to perceive the many troubles and humiliations to which his country must become subjected if hostilities were pushed to extremes. He was fully alive to the serious defeat he had sustained, yet dreaded to break the truth too suddenly to his haughty master; wise, therefore, in his generation, he declared there had been a "drawn battle." He informed his master that the contest had been maintained from eight A.M. until two P.M., and that "then, the tide ebbing, the foreign vessels ceased firing, and anchored in the middle of the stream, each side maintaining its ground."

He then details the measures he had adopted for reinforcing the position, and apologizes for the absence of more detailed information, upon the ground of his anxiety to communicate the earliest possible intelligence.

The emperor, or rather his ministers, were not so easily to be duped. Keshen was at once declared to be "incompetent;" and it was ordered that his conduct "should be subjected to the severest consideration;" while poor old Kwan was accused of being "at all times devoid of talent to direct, and, on the approach of a crisis to be alarmed, perturbed, and without resources."

From the earliest times to the most modern, success has been vulgarly considered in all countries to be the grand criterion of merit; and the "Felix" of the ancients, the successful, the favoured of the gods, stands nearly as paramount in the estimation of the world now, as it did even in days of old. Kwan was accordingly at once deprived of his rank and insignia of office, but was ordered henceforth to labour to attain merit, bearing his punishment in the meantime.

Various plans were suggested for future proceedings against the English; it was admitted that the junks could not cope with our ships on the open sea, and it was therefore recommended "that our vessels should be enticed into the inner waters, and that there should be employed expert divers to go down at night, and bore holes in their bottoms," while other parties were to come "stealthily upon them at night and board them unawares, and massacre the whole of their crews." Above all, a grand preparation of fireships was to be made, filled with various combustibles, which, with a favourable wind, were to be let loose upon them, and, in the confusion resulting from this attack, their war-vessels were to follow and complete what the fire-vessels had commenced. Great rewards were again offered for the taking or destruction of any of our ships, and 50,000 dollars was to be the recompence for a line-of-battle ship.

We must now return to the current of events which took place immediately after the capture of Chuenpee. The evening after the engagement was spent in making preparations on both sides for renewing the contest on the morrow. Every one on board our ships was excited with the occurrences of the day, and anxiously longing for the dawn of morning, when the thunder of our artillery should make even the walls of Anunghoy and the famed Bogue forts tremble and fall. At length the sun rose, bright and full of promise, on the morning of the 8th. The boats of H.M.S. Sulphur were sent out to take soundings higher up towards the Bogue. The Nemesis was first under weigh, and was directed to proceed at once up to Anunghoy with a couple of rocket-boats.

The morning was calm: the line-of-battle ships were slowly moving up to the positions assigned to them in front of the principal forts; already had the Nemesis taken up a position within capital range of the southern battery of Anunghoy, in such a manner that only three or four guns could be brought to bear on her from it. Already had she thrown in several shells and shot, when the signal, for her recal was observed flying most provokingly from the mast-head of the Wellesley, and being enforced by more than one signal gun, the firing ceased. Just as the exciting moment had arrived, and every man was calculating in his own mind how soon the forts would be reduced, the stillness, not of breathless anxiety, but of bitter disappointment, prevailed in every man's bosom.

It soon appeared that old Admiral Kwan preferred to try his skill in cunning and diplomacy rather than in war, and had sent off a small boat to the flag-ship, under a flag of truce, with a note addressed to the plenipotentiary. The fact has excited some amusement, that a little boat, with an old woman and a man in it, was sent off to bear proposals for the cessation of hostilities at the very moment of their commencement; and that this humble paper, sent in this extraordinary way, was received, and became the groundwork of an armistice, which was concluded in the course of the day.

Soon after four o'clock in the afternoon, the Nemesis was sent to convey Lieutenant Maitland, of the Wellesley, to Anunghoy, as bearer of a chop or official document, relating to the truce, and to a projected treaty of peace, the precise terms of which did not transpire.

Many animadversions were made upon this proceeding; but Captain Elliot was placed in very peculiar circumstances. He was, undoubtedly, desirous to avoid open rupture with the Chinese, if possible, and to use his best tact and judgment in negotiation, which would, of course, be of little avail unless backed by a strong force, ready to support his claims, and, therefore, necessarily assuming a threatening attitude. Above all, the value of the revenue to be derived from tea was so great, and its importance as an article of consumption so much thought of, that Elliot believed himself to be best serving his country when he best followed out, according to his judgment, these two principal objects. That Captain Elliot may have been influenced by occasional errors of judgment is far from improbable, but that he was wanting in natural talent or principle, or a wish to serve faithfully his queen, his government, and his country, his most unscrupulous detractors have scarcely ventured to maintain. It is fortunate, at all events, that it can still be said that measures of uncompromising hostility were not urged until every other method of persuasion, and every less powerful, however ingenious, argument had been tried and found wanting.

Negotiations continued at the Bogue, but the Chinese, in spite of the truce, were observed to be increasing their defences, and notice was accordingly given to them to desist. The communications were frequent, and, on the 17th, just a week after the commencement of the truce, Captain Elliot went down in the Nemesis to Macao. There seemed, however, to prevail an impression that the affair was so far from being settled, that another collision could scarcely be avoided, and therefore no measure of precaution was omitted on our side.

On the 20th of January, a circular was issued by Captain Elliot, dated at Macao, announcing that preliminary arrangements had been concluded, but reserving the details for future negotiation. Hong-Kong was to be ceded to us; an indemnity of six million dollars was to be paid by the Chinese in six equal annual instalments, one million being paid down at once, and the last in 1846; direct official intercourse was to be maintained upon terms of perfect equality, and trade was to be resumed within the port of Canton, within ten days. But it would also appear that an intimation had been made of an intention to remove the greater portion of the trade to Hong-Kong, for it was provided that it should only continue "to be carried on at Whampoa until further arrangements were practicable at the new settlement."

Nothing could at first appear more satisfactory than this arrangement; but, as will presently be seen, it gave ample time to the Chinese to make further preparations for defence, and abundant loopholes for the exercise of their crafty ingenuity. At the same time, Captain Elliot urged upon the consideration of his countrymen "the necessity of adopting a conciliatory treatment towards the people, and a becoming deference for the country upon the threshold of which we were about to be established."

Nothing further need here be said upon this subject, except that on the following day, the 21st January, the Nemesis was sent to convey two mandarins to Chuenpee, who were to receive back the forts from Captain Scott, of the Samarang, who had been appointed pro tempore governor of this fortress. The British colours were hauled down, and the Chinese dragon was hoisted in their place, under a salute from the flag-ship; it was very evident that no salute had ever sounded so welcome to Chinese ears before. As soon as a few guns could be got ready for the purpose, the salute was returned by the Chinese.

We had certainly shewn rather a chivalrous leniency to their government, in thus so suddenly restoring to them one of their principal strongholds. Indeed, everything looked extremely peaceable upon paper, and the Chinese contrived to create a temporary belief in the sincerity of their intentions.[22]

It will be remembered that Sir Gordon Bremer had not yet been named joint plenipotentiary, which did not take place until after his return from Calcutta in The Queen steamer, in the month of June following. He had proceeded to India in that vessel, at the end of March, after the arrival of Lieutenant-Gen. Sir Hugh Gough, probably in order to confer in person with the governor-general.

Thus ended what may be called the second act, (the first having been the taking of Chusan, and the expedition to the Peiho) of the great drama of the Chinese war. In his report to the emperor, respecting these several occurrences, Keshen declared that "he had only made conditional concessions to the English; merely promising that he would earnestly implore the emperor's favour in their behalf."

Immediately after the restoration of the forts on the 21st to the Chinese, the commodore went down to Macao in the Nemesis, leaving the Wellesley in the Lintao passage, the main body of the fleet having proceeded to Hong-Kong. It was feared, however, that things could not long remain in statu quo; and on the 26th, Captain Elliot himself left Macao in the Nemesis, and went up the Canton river to hold a conference, which it had been arranged should take place with Keshen in person, in order to settle those points which, it has been stated, were reserved for future consideration.