Chapter I: Preface

Written many thousand miles from the ever‐troubled land of China, with no opportunity for reference, this book doubtless contains many errors, for which the reader’s indulgence is asked. The criticisms of the various armies are not the result of my own unaided impressions, but a _résumé_ of the opinions of the many officers of the different contingents with whom I conversed on the subject.

My thanks are due to Sir Richard Harrison, K.C.B., Inspector‐General of Fortifications, who served with the Allied Army which captured Pekin in 1860, for his courtesy in permitting me to use some of the excellent photographs taken by the Photo Section, Royal Engineers.

THE AUTHOR

LONDON, 1903

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

FROM WEI‐HAI‐WEI TO TIENTSIN

Our transport—An Irish _padré_—Wei‐hai‐wei harbour by night—The
island by day—The mainland—On to Taku—Taku at last—The allied
fleet—The famous forts—The Peiho River—The Allies at Tong‐ku—The
British at Hsin‐ho—The train to Tientsin—A motley crowd of
passengers—The country _en route_—A historic railway station
_pages_ 1–16

CHAPTER II

TIENTSIN

The foreign settlement—The Chinese city—The linguists in the
Anglo‐Indian army—The Tientsin Club—A polyglot crowd round the
bar—The English Concession—The famous Gordon Hall—The brawls in
Taku Road—Dissensions among the Allied troops—The attack on the
Royal Welch Fusiliers’ patrol—The siege of Tientsin—Scene of the
fighting—Accuracy of the Chinese shell fire—Soldier life in the
streets of Tientsin—Tommy Atkins—Peace and War—The revenge of
Christianity—The “railway siding incident”
_pages_ 17–33