Another stretch of lifeless country lies between Wuhu and Nanking, not a soul or soldier to be seen. We passed the scene of the attack on the USS. Panay ana the Standard Oil boats. Nothing was visible to remind us of that horrible tragedy, which took place only a week before.
It was dark when we sighted N: king, easily identified by the numa ous fires blazing and smoking or both the Nanking and Pukow banks, We were told that they were burning corpses, I was told that 100,000 Chinese were killed in and around that city, In the morning we saw the havoc wrought on the capital—appalling! The Bund was crowded with Japanese military units. cavalry, artillery and infantry as busy as ants. Transport launches full of sdidiers were Crossing and recrossing the river and Japanese gunboats, destroyers and a hospital ship lay in, {he stream, Nobody is allowed 10 go ashore in Nanking, that is, other than Japanese.
From Nanking we were included in a convoy by H.M.S, Capetown With British women and children on steamers, Chinkiang Reached All the way down to Chinkiang the river banks bear witness of the devastation of war, numerous wrecked junks, launches, hulks and lighters being seen, but still no sign of Chinese life ashore, Chinkiang had numerous fires smoking among the ruins. but the smoke haze lying over the city made it difficult to observe any details, There mere rany Japanese steamers, presumably transports, lying at anchor in the harbour. We reached Kiangyin too late in the afternoon of the 22nd to cross the boom, so we anchored there for the night, Lying against the north bank of the river is the wreck of the Chinese cruiser bombed and sunk by the Putting aside their arms, Japanese marine, Shanghai have been busy during the past few days preparing for New Year's festivities. They are Shown above pounding rice and preparing the paste into "machi" cakes in the Landing Party barracks, Japanese, She lies half submerged. One of the two modern cruisers the Chinese owned; and built only a few years ago by the Japanese themselves We crossed the boom early in the morning of the 23rd. There was nothing to see, except little flags on floats now and again marking the course, and the Capetown, one A.P.C. steamer, and our Sandro Sandri continued on to Shanghai which we hoped to reach that evening, We reckoned without the weather. Fog descended on us when we were about twelve miles outside of Woosung. We had to anchor there until about o'clock when it cleared a little, and we moved on to the anchorage at Woosung, where there appeared to be a fleet of various kinds of steamers anchored, all, as far as could be observed. flying the flag of Japan,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.