'There were some awkward quarters' an hour in-the month of December' that decided the issue of the present. French campaign in Tonquin,. If, when between three and four o'clock on the afternoon of the 14th December, the Ohinese commenced their grand turning movement from the Kast yate of the outer'line of fortifications at Sontay they had displayed would. probably not flow be in." hands "and Hung: Hoa almost Fwould not, The flank movement almost successful, "But just when the Frenchmen seemed hemuied in bette the lines of Phi wi the river, U Chinamen faltered they were Yunnan mountaineers and fought well, but they wanted the grit of the Black Flags, and the Black Flags were all In the forts and earthworks of Phuc-so, An hour later the tricolour fly Phuc-so. During that night, however, fortune again wavered in the balance. Ti Black Flags drove the Turcos from thi position and were within five yards of earthworks when the Alges placed by the Colonial sides fired at the fash of the fighting, the Black Flag horns sounded the "cease fire" (identical with the French call) and they Totired at five in the morning. Next day, the 15th, a fatal error was made in failing to resist the deploying of French troops along the embankment' which formed the works of Phuc-so, When that movement westward ras completed late in the -after-Sontay was loxt and i was practically over Tt was in the grey Friday morning that the troops arrived wt the mouth of the Black River, Bride de I'Isle had extended his line down the right of the river from Bat-Bao so as to keep his touch with the second column. He had done m He had established a battery of pieces de quatre-ving the day before on a hillock close to the river and had pitched shell into Hung Hoo from distance of 6,000 yards, This was donounced by every one as premature and asa blunder, But there were more mis-mistakes comi In the meantime we were somewhat astonished to find a post of Chinam entrenched right opposite us. There was a sentinel marching up and d full view, and every now man would walk out on to ti have a shot at us. The river about 350 yards in width, broad sandbanks on either high bank. We therefore looked quilly. Presently, howe wu lucky Turco got his left shoulder smashed with a bullet, and then " few volleys of companies were despatched to make the Celestials quit. This they did without either delay or loss. Meanwhile some junks designed to make a bridge, and conveying and stores, came up the Red hundred or 80 of Annamese and ing this ineffectual, they got out " gingal, but had only fired three -sliots; when: the Eclair came up and sout'them to the right about-with scme-rounds from her Hotchkiss guns. Meanwhile the big guns were getting into position on a little pine-crowned hillock: behind: the village of Truong-Ba, where we had halted. Between eight and nine o'clock they commenced their -firo. There was a battery of pieces of—ordinary-European horse ai a batter of siege gu Of ninety-five," the regular Geld "ae
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.