July 5. Mr. David Oliphant, one of the English legation students, was shot and mortally wounded, in the Hanlin Yuan. He died at 3, and was buried in our little graveyard at 7 p.m. His death threw a deep gloom over the whole legation, as he was a general favorite. Three attacks were made on us last night at 10 and 12, and 2.30 this morning. Cartridge ammunition of the enemy seems to be running low, as they are firing now more of the old muzzle-loading Yingalls, and fewer of the Mauser cartridges.
July 6. A sortie was made by the Japanese to try and capture a gun that was making havoc on their barricades in the Su Wang Fu. Too many Chinese houses, however, concealed the whereabouts of the gun, and after having three men wounded they were obliged to return unsuccessful. A shell fell in one of the rooms of Mr. Conger’s house, doing considerable damage. Mrs. Conger had been in the room only a short time before.
On the great wall, Kun Ming Hu
A messenger was let down from the wall with ropes, to try and communicate our desperate situation to Tientsin. He was offered one thousand taels if he got safely through the enemy’s lines with his dispatches. We have sent numerous runners out by the water-gate, and several over the wall, but none have ever returned. Doubtless they have been captured and killed.
During the day a number of three- and seven-pound solid iron shot have been thrown into our midst by guns located on the wall of the imperial, or yellow city, to the north of us. So far, beyond knocking a few holes in the buildings, they have done no harm. The powder they are using must be very inferior. One of the missiles passed through Lady MacDonald’s dining room.
July 7. Two attacks were made on the French legation and were repulsed, the Chinese loss being small, as they retired rapidly. The Austrian commander, Captain von Thorneburg, was killed in one of these attacks, being shot through the heart.
We are now really eating the horse-meat. A number of people who were using it assured us it was very good, but our prejudices prevailed some time. First we tried the liver, fried with a small scrap of bacon, and were pleased to find it tasted just like beef-liver. Then we tried some of the meat curried, and now we are having excellent sausages of the meat, which helps the rice to be more palatable. We are allowed one pound of horse-meat per adult individual each day.
When the Russians came up the first time, they brought along with them sixty shells, leaving the gun in Tientsin to be brought up by the next force that came. As no other could get in, the ammunition was of no use. It was thought that if some kind of a cannon could be made, many of our shells might be utilized in destroying the Chinese barricades. So Mitchell, the United States gunner, started to work on two sections of a fire-engine pump. Meanwhile, two Chinese coolies found an old cannon, a muzzle-loader of about 1860, in a junkshop, and dragged it in. As this cannon fitted the shells it was used instead of the pump. It was mounted on a pair of wheels taken from the Italian ammunition truck. It has been nicknamed the “International.” The gun itself was an old British one, mounted on an Italian carriage, and fired with Russian ammunition by an American gunner. Hence the nickname.