On Friday last the French gunboat Lutin arrived at the Red Buoy and immediately communicated with the commander of the Triomphante and with H, E, Monsieur Patendtre, the substance of the communication being that Keelung had been attacked and taken by a French squadron sent from Foochow. The French Minister at once the Viceroy Txény Kuo-ch'tian and the Tao-t'ai of the seizure, and now awaits whatever action the Chinese intend to take.
seems that, on the th of August, Admiral es appeared before the place with two ps, sud informed the military mandarins that if at daybreak next morning the forts were not surrendered to him he would occupy them by force. No answer having been iven to this suumuns, orders were issued on the Sth of August to open fire from a distance of about a thousand yards, and the landing companies were put in readiness for action The engagement seems to hive been decisive from the beginning, for an hour afterwards the French flag was flying over the dismantled forts, from which the Chinese speedily retreated. The French had neither killed nor wounded on their side. The Villars is reported to have received a certain number of shots, which caused only slight damage.
Tt is further said that a powder magazine at one of the forts blew up, killing, we are told, upwards of three hundred: Chinese soldiers, and wounding many others. This so disheartened the rest that they fled as fast as their legs would carry them to a place of safety, out of reach of the Fronchmen's gu 7 The story of the capture of Keelung ix discredited by the natives generally. They base their disbelief on the fact that the information did not come by teleranh, being apparently unaware that the tele. graph system does not at present connect
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.