On lovely morning in September, 1853, when my boy came to my room for his usual ministrations, he told me in an excited way that the rebels had risen in the city, killed some of the officials, and were in undisputed possession of the place. The news came like thunder from a clea sky, as the day before everything was as peaceable in Shanghai as at the present time, and there had been no rumour that the city was in danger from rebels either within or without, as none were supposed to be nearer than at Nanking; the tale in fact asemed perfectly incredible. How: ever, I went to the top of our house at the corer of Foochow and Szechuen Roads, where there was a good look-out, but carefully scrutinising the city with my glass T could see no indications of any disturbance; on the contrary, all was as quiet in that direction as usual. I next went down the Foochow Road to the Bund. At first no unusual signs were visible there, but, looking towards the Custom House, I noticed a stir in that direction, and hastening thither € found a crowd of country copie and coolies swarming out from the building, and carrying off chairs, tables, windows, doors, in fact everything that was portable'onentering, thenoiseand confusion werequiteindescribable, Several hundred of the usually innocent and simple looking country folk—who must have scented their prey as the eagle dyes the carcase, for, as it was yet early inthomorning, it was mystery to mie how they could so scun have learned of the trouble in the city—were pillaging the place right and left, while the floors were completely littered with books, man-scripts, and papers, the records of the ofice, which were being kicked about and trodden upon in the most unceremonious way. Hardly had I time to grasp the situation when there was a movement of alarm among the looters, some rushing wildly in one direction, and sume in auother; this Tat first thought was probably caused by the arrival of the officials, come to put an end to this scene of law: Tessness, but T was quickly undeceived, and startled by the sudden appearance, Hight in our midst, of score oF note of villainous looking fellows with scarlet cloth twisted round their heads, who came bounding into the place, brandishing their knives in a frantic way, so that L expected nothing less than the instant and indiscriminate massacre of the whole crowd, but soon saw that they had other objects in view, as they bevan to seize and carry off to boats, from which they had just Tanded, a large number of guns that were stored on the premises. I did not lose any time, however, in escaping from the Custom House and placing where I saw the rebels—for such it now myself in @ sifer position on the Bund, appeared they were—mal all haste to get the guns on board their boats, which they speedily succeeded in doing without opposition from any one, and with them started off in the direction of the city. Soon the history of the capture of the town became generally known, and it then appeared that it had been quietly effected without resistance, and almost without bloodshed, as only one or two of the subordinate officials had been killed, the rest having effected their escape. As for the Taotai, whose name was Samqua; he had formerly been a hong merchant at Canton, and was much liked by those foreigners who knew him; he bad been unable to escape with the rest of the officials and was still in the city, so two of his foreign friends went into the place to rescue him, They disguised him, and having tied a piece of American cloth around his waist lowered him from the city walls, and he then took refuge in the settlement.
The unlooked-for capture of the city by these rebels, who were members of the Triad and other secret. societies, and had no connection with the Taipings who. were then devastating the valley of the Yangtze from Hankow to Nanking, created as may well be imagined the greatest excitement in Shanghai. Guards from the English and American men-of-war were landed, posts were established on the Yangkingpang, at the Custom House and other points, and such further measures were taken for the defence of the settlement as were practicable, as it was not yet known whether the rebels were disposed to be friendly or the reverse to foreigners.
Thad a singularly good opportunity for making their acquaintance and seeing them at home on this the first day of their reign, as a lot of silk belonging to us was seized by them when on its way out of the city in the morning; so, just before nightfall, T started with a friend and a gang of coolies to try to recover it. We entered by the North gate which was strongly guarded within, and were conducted to the Yamen which the rebel chief had selected for his head-quarters. It was then dark, and the courts through which we passed' were lighted by smoking torches, which threw a lurid glare on the scowling faces of the throng of red-turbaned rebels who made way for us, as we passed, with evident reluctance, as they knew we had come to deprive them of sine of their plunder. Usher. ed into the presence of the chief we found that redoubtable individual seated at a square table, with a dozen or sv of his subordinates, while a crowd of guards Being illuminated as wore the outer courts rouped themselves about us, and the place
by torches and smoking lamps had a most uncanny appearance. The chief, who had been a sugar broker, seemed to know me though I did not remember ever to have seen him; his face was pallid, evidently through smoking opium, and his checks were distended by the betel-nut he was chewing. He had altogether a stolid and devil-may-care sort of look, which did not augur well for the success of my mission, He listened to my claim for the restoration of the silk with apparent indifference, and refused very curtly to give it up, a decision which evidently gratified the rifians who surrounded us. I then insisted more strongly on my rights, and threatened a descent upon him by the American consul and his legions if he persisted in his refusal concede them, but this seemed not to have the desired effect, as he replied My no fear that American consul," which was perhaps not to be wondered at as that functionary was then a member of a mercantile house, and therefore not so formidable in the opinion of the natives as an out-and-out and independent official. I saw then that it was necessary for me to take higher ground and threatened him not only with the wrath of the American consul, but of all other foreigners in authority, when i seemed to strike him that this combination would be too much for him, and he at length gave orders to have the silk restored. A scowl passed over the faces of his subordinates, but it was evident that his word was law to them, and they hastened to bring in and deliver the silk to my coolies. Then to put the best possible face on the matter, he ordered an escort to accompany us and see us safely out of the city, as it seems there had been a fight already between two factions of the rebels, and the chief was fearful that there might be an attempt at rescue by some of those who had not yet acknowledged his authority; so, to avoid the chance of discovery by them of what was going on, he enjoined perfect silence upon us. Bidding the great man good bye, we wended our way back through the narrow streets, as quietly as possible, and out again by the North gate. As soon as we turned our backs upon the city walls and were out of the reach of danger, our coolies struck up their customary aho-aho-aho-aho, and never did I realise the sweetness of these familiar sounds until I heard them ring out so cheerily then in the clear night air.
Of all the incidents of this eventful day, what made the deepest impression on my mind was the extraordinary conduct of the rabble in plundering the Custom House—which was not put an end to until a guard was placed there from one of the English men-of-war in port—aimost" before its custodians had time to escape, as it showed the entire want of sympathy between the people and the goverment.
he period of eighteen months during which the rebels retained possession of the city was one of constant excitement, and j hardly a day passed without sume stirring incident. 1£ was soon found out that they were anxious to niaintain friendly relations with foreigners, and this feeling was for a long time reciprocated by the latter.
As, at the time of the taking of the city, there were no Chinese troops in the being in fact severely taxd. to cope vicinity—the resources of the government
with the rebels on the Yangtzekiang—amarly days elapsed before any demonstration' was made against the rebels, and they in the meantime remained undisputed masters of the townend surrounding country. At length one morning the boming of guns was heard in the direction of Tunkadvo, and with our glasses we could see a fleet of small Ningpo fighting junks cannonading the city, but without any perceptible effect. 'A few days later a body of troops came down the Souchow creek, and, establishing their headquarters above the Stone bridge, they marched towards the city, It was a pretty sight tu see them wending their devious way in single file along the many footpaths across the country, nearly every man carrying a flag and the line being broken at intervals by military mandarins on ponies hurrying them forward; but as it was evident that a collision with the rebels was now imminent we did not wait long to enjoy it, but hastened to the scene of the impending conflict about wheretheFohkien road crosses the Yang-king-pang, which we reached just as the van of the Troperialiste were coming up and opening fire with small rockets and jingalls. This it may be ima: gined did not cause the walls to crumble befure our eyes; in fact its only effect seemed to be to' provoke a return of the compliment from the rebels, who responded with a six-pounder cannon' from a bastion just in front, and with musketry which soon turned the soldiers to the right about. Having thus taken the initiative, however, the Imperialists. rae tenaciously, to the siege, and little by little and slowly asiftime were no object, they went on drawing the folds of investment closer and closer until the bitter end. In course of time earth works were constructed, from Tunkadoo on the south to the Ningpo joss house on the north-west, and continued as far as the eastern boundary of the present race course; batteries were established on the Puotung side opposite the city, and fleets of war junks stationed above the town, and opposite the associated wharves below, cut off all communication with the city by water. The efforts of the Imperialists to regain possession of the place,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.