September 29th.—At midnight of the 27th I was roused by Wade, who brought me a letter from Prince Kung (the Emperor's brother), a good deal milder than the last, but still implying that Parkes, &c., were not to be returned until the treaty, &c., was signed. The comparative mildness of the tone of this communication was clearly attributable to the firmness of my last letter, and I therefore induced those with whom I act to agree to nay adhering to it in my reply. I accordingly wrote to say that the army would advance unless the prisoners should return in the course of to-day; but that I do not intend to add to the Convention which I have already furnished to the Chinese Plenipotentiaries, and that I will sign that at once, and close the war, if they choose. I hardly expect to see our friends to-day. The Generals will not advance to-morrow, but they say they will on Monday. Meanwhile it is raining; a sort of English rain, not tropical; and if we have not too much of it, it will do good.
October 1st.—Yesterday morning came another letter, proposing that the army should retire to Chin-kia-wan, and that then the treaty should be signed and the prisoners restored. This was clearly inadmissible, as the Chinese would infer from it that whenever they had a difficulty with us they had only to kidnap some of our people to bring us to terms. So we have again handed the matter over to the Generals, from whose hands indeed it would not now have been taken if they had not urged me to make this last overture to Prince Kung. I do not know when they will advance.
October 3rd.—We have moved about two miles, and are now lodged in a mosque—a nice building, a good deal ornamented—which is for the nonce turned to profane uses. The army was to have advanced to attack Sang-ko-lin-sin's force to-morrow, but now I am told the French are not ready. … These delays give the Chinese fresh heart, and they are beginning to send people to fire on our convoys, &c., coming up from Tientsin. … There was a letter sent to me yesterday by Prince Kung, signed by Loch and Parkes. Loch managed in his signature to convey to us in Hindostanee that the letter was written under compulsion. As it was in Chinese the information was hardly necessary. It said that they two were well treated, complimented Prince Kung, and asked for some clothes. We have heard nothing about the others who are missing.
[Sidenote: Advance on Pekin.]
October 5th.—We left our mosque this morning at about seven. The whole army was drawn up in contiguous columns of regiments, and had a good appearance. The cavalry on the right, then the artillery, and then the infantry. The French were on our left. In this way we advanced about four miles, when we reached a place from which we saw one of the gates of Pekin at about a mile and a half distance. We met with no enemy, but we heard of him about three miles farther on. However, the French declined to go any farther; so here we remain for the night, and we have got into a joss-house, which is lucky, for we have no tents with us—only a very light kit and three days' provisions for each person. We hear that the Emperor has left for Tartary, which is very probable. We might have stopped him if we had marched on immediately after the 21st ultimo; but that was, in the judgment of the Generals, impossible.
[Sidenote: Suburbs.]
October 6th.—Five P.M.—We are lodged in a Lamaserie in the north-west suburb of Pekin. Our move began at seven. We streamed along narrow roads in a long line. I got a scolding from the General for outflanking the skirmishers, which I did to get out of the dust. At about nine we reached a brick-kiln, from whence we had a view of Pekin, and of a mound, behind which, as we were assured, Sang-ko-lin- sin and his army were encamped. We halted for some time and then advanced; we on the right, the French on the left, towards these supposed camps. The French were to attack in front, we were to take the enemy in flank. I was with the second division of our force. When we arrived abreast of the entrenchment we could see nothing of an enemy. After a while I rode to the top of the mound at the corner of the entrenchment, and found the French General and Staff. The Tartars had all decamped the night before. I then rejoined our army and advanced with it to this point. With the exception of a few shots exchanged with a picket of the enemy, we know of no fighting which has taken place to-day; but, strange to say, our cavalry which went off far to the right in the morning has not been heard of yet, and we cannot discover what has become of the French. It is a nice country, covered with clumps of trees and suburban villas. The temperature of the air is cool, but the sun was very hot all day.
[Sidenote: The Summer Palace.]
Sunday, October 7th.—We hear this morning that the French and our cavalry have captured the Summer Palace of the Emperor. All the big- wigs have fled, nothing remains but a portion of the household. We are told that the prisoners are all in Pekin. … Five P.M.—I have just returned from the Summer Palace. It is really a fine thing, like an English park—numberless buildings with handsome rooms, and filled with Chinese curios, and handsome clocks, bronzes, &c. But, alas! such a scene of desolation. The French General came up full of protestations. He had prevented looting in order that all the plunder might be divided between the armies, &c. &c. There was not a room that I saw in which half the things had not been taken away or broken to pieces. I tried to get a regiment of ours sent to guard the place, and then sell the things by auction; but it is difficult to get things done by system in such a case, so some officers are left who are to fill two or three carts with treasures which are to be sold…. Plundering and devastating a place like this is bad enough, but what is much worse is the waste and breakage. Out of 1,000,000 l. worth of property, I daresay 50,000 l. will not be realised. French soldiers were destroying in every way the most beautiful silks, breaking the jade ornaments and porcelain, &c. War is a hateful business. The more one sees of it, the more one detests it.
[Sidenote: Return of some of the captives.]