When the history of this war comes to be written, what may turn out to be one of the minor epics of the campaign may be the journey overland by the crew of the gunboat Sandpiper, which is now at Changsha with a civilian status, and in the care of a few Chinese members of the crew, with armaments dismantled and little to remind the bandit that once this craft was 1 guardian of law and order in its section of the Yangtze. Changsha itself was never one of the more lively stations for British gunboats upriver, in spite of the efforts of the small foreign community to make the life of the sailors as happy as possible. With the damage done by the Communists, which was never properly repaired, and the subsequent havoc wrought by the premature burning of the city by its commanders during the first Japanese offensive down the Hankow-Canton Railway, what few attractions the city had for the casual visitor disappeared, and with increased difficulties in transportation following the cutting of the Canton Railway by the Japanese, and the Japanese occupation of Nanchang, to say nothing of the restrictions placed on transport on the Yangtze ind Hsiang Rivers themselves, the upholding of British interests in the port became a weariaess unto the flesh of most of the men whose duty it was. That it was efficiently and truly carried out is a fine testimony to the discipline and control exercised in H.M. Navy. In circumstances such as these, it can be understood that the order for withdrawal was not unwelcome, and there followed an overland journey "which, f it ever is fully written, will probably rank among the classics in the records of he Royal Navy. It reflects no little credit, also, upon the staff work of the Chinese army, which supplied transport over different routes often n extremely difficult conditions. It is reported hat a guide, philosopher and friend of the party, whose calling and training did not make ^im familiar with "grousing, was somewhat shocked at some of the opinions expressed about the comforts of Chinese inns along the route. He need not have been. It is a maxim of the British serviceman that he wants the best he n get, but at the same time is prepared to make the best out of the worst anyone can provide. Those officers who organized the journey, both British and Chinese, and those who yarned it to a successful conclusion, deserve all the credit they can get. Only those who have travelled à la chinois in the old days can begin to appreciate the conditions which must
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.