Henry Frith

“ All this time the sea was most terrible, the wind and darkness were awful, the foam simply a white mist around us. The vessel suddenly rose up again, was again depressed, again lifted as the squall subsided; and after four such experiences, each one bringing our masts down to the waves, and the last one smashing the mizzen-topmast short at the cap, we floated more steadily. The wind changed, smote us again on the starboard quarter, after blowing in a circle for a couple of hours, and we rested on a trembling sea, drenched with spray and rain, and dishevelled. ”

“ We have gained a victory."
As if to accentuate his declaration, at that moment the admiral appeared upon the deck of the Hashidate, amid lights, and cheering, marines presented arms, and all the crew uncovered dark heads in the dying daylight. From ship to ship the cheering spread, and speeded many brave souls to heaven in the excitement attendant upon the martial strains of the solemn "Kimi-ga-yo," the National Anthem. Far over the now quiet sea, and amid the still evening air, the music died away in the distance. ”

“ Still the boat skimmed on, and then almost noiselessly brought up in the harbour, within the range of the Chinese torpedo-squadron, which speedily perceived the intruder.
The situation was peculiar. We were in hostile waters; the ships and torpedo-boats, and even the forts, quickly woke up. Shells came whizzing in our direction. We could see them streaking the blackness, like meteors, then flying shrieking over our heads, and plunging or bursting in the sea beyond the boom, or within it. ”

“ As the grey winter day rose out of the sea to port, all eyes were fixed upon the batteries and the ships in harbour. Telescopes swept the hills and platforms, the traces of the wrecked boom, the almost deserted islands, the shattered forts. As men gazed in silence, broken only at intervals by duty orders, a sense of depression fell upon me, as if something unpleasant awaited us. ”

“ The men were almost savage, their weapons were bloodstained, their dress disordered and dusty, and splashed with blood; they were shouting, and indulging in what seemed to me fiendish merriment; they were drunken with excitement and the spirit of slaughter; they bayoneted the few living Chinese within reach, and then levelled their rifles at me, laughing still.
Holding up my hands, I called out the few words I had heard on board the Naniwa, "Long live Japan!" and added in English, "I am no enemy. Look! I am a friend." ”

“ A shout of laughter succeeded at the expense of the brutal soldier, whose face was a study for a caricaturist, and his profound surprise saved my life. At this juncture I recalled the badge and permit which the captain and officers had given me. In a moment I had grasped them, and even as the angry soldiers advanced with sanguinary threats to bayonet me, the priceless permit, and, even more than it, the badge of the naval officer, arrested my would-be murderers. ”

“ The Chinese soldiers—all those left alive, I mean—had disappeared. Dead or wounded men lay around me, but few of the latter moved, and I began to suspect that the victors had killed most of them. My own escape from death seemed marvellous, for I lay almost helpless. The shouts, shots, and shrieks below in the town told me of the fearful scenes, the pursuit of the vanquished, the death of the fugitives. I attempted to rise to my feet, and had just supported myself by the parapet, when a Japanese picket approached. ”

“ Who had been so base as to state that I was a Chinese spy? Perhaps one of the crew who had rescued me from the sinking steamer, and had noticed me in the company of the German officer, a well-known adherent of the Chinese. If so, my fate was sealed. The yardarm on which the falcon had perched appeared to me to be my ultimate destination, or to suggest it. The more I ruminated upon my prospects, the less I liked them.
Meantime the Naniwa pursued her course, the lookouts keeping a most careful watch for torpedoes. I kept an equally anxious watch for the midshipman. ”

“ Close came the fire, and still closer, as the Japanese "circled" in two divisions, and in opposite directions, around the Chinese ships. Shells crashed and shot thundered, bullets whizzed and sang in all directions, and over all the flame-streaked smoke of guns and furnaces poured out and hung upon the scene, as if to conceal man's awful passions and fierce conflicts. Through this Gehenna we rushed at great speed, tossing the water upon our sterns and bows, to leave it seething astern jotted with plunging shot. ”

“ My senses were at once awakened. The Port Arthur servant was keeping me alert, and I saw he was pointing to some huts below us. Another village! I must act!
I looked around me in all directions, and made up my mind to rush the hill beside me and hide amid the boulders. I had no thought beyond escape, and when some minutes later "my coolie" dropped the end of the rope suddenly, exclaiming, "Kinchow!" I knew my chance had come, and the direction. The yellow fellow gesticulated in the face of my captors. I was free! ”

“ At length I was attired, painted, and coiffe; my delicate skull was shaven; a long lock was retained, and to this a proper pigtail was by artifice attached. When this caudal appendage was fixed, and my whole appearance touched up, I caught sight of myself in a mirror, and, after a struggle with my pride, burst into a roar of laughter.
It was too ridiculous! The "coolie," butcher-blue suit, the queer shoes, the long sleeves, the wide trousers and loose tunic, made me feel as if dressed for a fancy ball, and my amusement was only checked by the presentation of the revolver and some cartridges. ”

“ From the fine parade along the river,—the Bund it is called,—with its turfed slopes, Shanghai is alive, right away to the men-of-war, local steamers, and launches. The streets are full, even crowded, with passers-by and rickshas—the original "Pull-man car of Shanghai." On the Bund the business is performed, and its occupants are indeed busy. It is a wonderful sight for the stranger from Europe, who expects things to be Chinese-like. ”

“ I recognised him as the youth whom I had assisted that evening in Shanghai when the feeling against the Japanese ran high. He recognised me at the same moment, and smiled. I advanced and saluted him; he replied in kind, and we exchanged greetings. It was Tomi!
"May I inquire what your captain intends to do with us?" I asked after a while.
"I cannot say," he replied. "My officer and your captain will doubtless arrange matters."
"We are not at war," I persisted; "we cannot be harmed." I glanced at the English ensign as I was speaking. ”

“ Japanese soldiers were decapitated, and hacked when dead. Even the trees were bearing ghastly fruits of savage warfare at times. So one can hardly wonder if the Japanese retaliated upon their foes, however much we may regret their subsequent vengeance. When one sees prisoners hanging by the feet to the branches of a tree, and fearfully and horribly mutilated besides by the Chinese; and, when dead, pelted by lads "for fun" as the bodies swing in the wind, one hesitates to dub the Chinaman a decent savage! ”

“ But when we had reached a retired ravine amongst the twisted hills which bound that coast, our captors raised their pistols and evidently demanded money, tearing at our dress, and searching our garments and persons. All this time the Chinese gentlemen submitted to the insults with a truly Christian, or Chinese, patience. But one could discern the flash of the eye and the movement of the face which spoke of the passion within. When we had been robbed, we were bound by our ankles and made to stand against the slope of the hill, half-naked, wholly chilled, and destitute. ”

“ In our fleet the termination of the war was everywhere discussed. Port Arthur captured, its forts denuded of guns, Kinchow, and other places inland in Japanese hands; Wei-hai-Wei on the brink of destruction—what chance had the Chinese admiral and generals? Better had they accepted the offer of the Japanese and surrendered at first.
We were all awake early in the morning of the 12th February, because experience told us that the enemy must either resist to the death that day or capitulate. ”

“ I at once hurried on deck again, and searched the sea.
The captain then came upon the bridge, and I heard him chatting with the mate.
"I suppose she's a Jap," said the latter; "but I can't grasp the white flag."
"Dip the ensign, anyway; it's the proper thing. Hoist the red rag," he said.
The signal-hand quickly bent the ensign of the merchant navy; it rose, fluttered out, dipped, and rose again to the peak, blowing out plainly.
"I say, he takes no notice," cried the captain. "She keeps her course to the north-east. Now what in thunder does that mean? It's an insult, bedad!" ”

“ That cold night, for which all were unprepared, found those on the hills badly off, though wearied to death they lay, some beside watch-fires some in the darkness, dead asleep; while the soldiers in the waking town conducted themselves like absolute fiends. As already stated, the soldiers were exasperated by the brutality of the Chinese, but that was scarce a reason for the wholesale and deliberate murder of civilians, women, and children in cold blood. ”

“ As we advanced I felt like a man forced into a trap, for if discovered I had no chance for life from the Celestials, while the Rising Suns would have no quarter for those taken "in arms." Chinese pickets were scattered amongst the hills, and some fine men were in the ranks.
No doubt there were hundreds of men within these forts, though we saw few of them, and I wondered whether they kept watch at night carefully, for indeed they appeared rather sleepy in the morning, though ready enough with their rifles. ”

“ My command of language is not despicable in English, and on board ship; but in that glade in the society of the Japanese scout I felt kinder dumb! There was no need for silence. The Chinese language embraces about forty thousand strokes or letters (or signs rather) in writing; while only about three hundred and fifty are spoken. Hence the same spoken word represents a number of different—vastly different—things in writing; and the few hundreds of words represent so many more thousands of characters or signs! Even a Chinese may communicate with a friend in another province by writing ”

“ But the Chinese stuck to it and replied in kind. We all seemed wild, and even I became careless in showing myself in the excitement and the roar of the battle. I actually saw men cut across their blue clothing in an instant, steeped in blood, and yet they seemed to move and writhe. Their associates took no notice of them. Life in China is of no value apparently, and when the spectator in his turn falls in silent anguish, the survivors thrust him aside, and seize the weapon they themselves require. ”

“ On that memorable 7th November the guns of the Japanese warships were heard outside, and speculation was rife. The troops had already advanced to Talien Bay, where forts protect the peninsula of the "Regent's Sword," as the narrow isthmus is called. If the invaders captured these forts, the road to Port Arthur would be open, and Shing-Ching would be at the mercy of the Japanese. They did not hesitate to advance against these strongholds. Three detachments marched bravely on, supported by artillery and cavalry, and I followed as a spectator, well in the rear, but not out of range. ”

“ I paced the streets, closely followed by my original captors, the observed of all those by whom we passed, maddened soldiers triumphant, Chinese civilians despairing, and dead heaps of fugitives, who received no quarter. It is true, as a Japanese told me, "We do not kill our prisoners, as the Chinese do." No, they do not kill prisoners in cold blood—but they leave as few as possible to survive the battle. ”

“ The Chinese drove, or perhaps walked, but did not "go in for games" as the "foreign devils" do; it is better, they think, to pay people to do all this to amuse them.
The steamer quitted Shanghai, and made her way into the Yellow Sea, which is beautifully blue, and derives its name from the Ho, or Yellow River. Near the land it is more muddy, but steaming at sea through the ocean depths the water is blue as an Italian sky. We made our way up to Taku, or Tien Tsin, the well-known port of Northern China. ”

“ Men and women dead—mutilated—every possible shame had been inflicted, and even then, in daylight, the Japanese soldiers were looting and killing all in their way, binding up bundles of plunder, or chasing an unfortunate Chinaman to death amid the laughter of his fellows. ”

“ It was worthy of a young Nelson, who in such surroundings could quietly contemplate the sinking of the ship, in full assurance that his mates would pick up all they could even in the midst of the battle.
This faith was justified in some degree, for the great Chinese ship was shot through. Time after time the Japanese shot and shell struck her, battered her, splintered and dinted her. Her inner fittings must have been shattered, and her guns dismounted. Still she persevered. ”

“ I gazed at the man in surprise, and some diluted pleasure, because I recognised him as my former associate Hoko, the scout with whom I had been travelling, and by whom I had been robbed.
Our eyes met in mutual recognition. He made signs to me, and uttered a few sentences in French, asking whether I had presented my permit, and how I came to Kinchow. He informed the officer; and the man being an accredited interpreter and trustworthy, the officer dismissed my unruly escort, and bade the interpreter take care of me pending his own arrival at headquarters. ”

“ Glancing along the trim and natty decks of the schooner, I gained the gangway. The little ship was ready to put to sea, the anchor was already weighed, and the schooner was only fast to a buoy, for the breeze was light. I recognised the craft as a former smuggling vessel, and named Harada by her late owner. She traded in "natives" up the coast, and to Formosa, the Pescadores, and as far as Shanghai, or even farther north. ”

“ I had no time to fear the bullets, but perhaps I owe my life to the small ladder which supported me, and beneath which I managed to float, and propel myself at intervals, while the firing continued. The Chinese replied aimlessly from the steamer, killing their own people on the principle of the scorpion which attacks itself when in imminent danger of death. Numbers of Chinese were swimming, and were slain in the water; a few were saved, with three or four Europeans, by the Japanese and by a French vessel which came upon the scene, but the vast majority perished. ”