On board the brig Ann there were in all fifty-seven souls; of whom, fourteen were natives of Europe or America, four Portuguese, five Chinamen, and thirty-four natives of India. Out of all those who were taken prisoners, belonging to both vessels, only nine ultimately escaped an untimely fate, and were restored at the end of the war, according to the terms of the treaty.
The following account of what befel the unfortunate sufferers on board the Ann will apply, with little variation, to those who were wrecked before them, in the Nerbudda. It is extracted and condensed from a curious journal, kept by one of the sufferers, a fine young man, who was a passenger on board. It was found concealed in his cell, after his unfortunate fate, and cannot but awaken feelings of deep commiseration for all his companions in distress.[57] It was written upon common Chinese paper, with a piece of bamboo, and the account was continued to within five or six days of the time when the final tragedy is supposed to have taken place. It was written day by day, as the various little occurrences took place, and some of the observations casually made upon the appearance of the island will be read with great interest; but I have thought proper to omit the minutiæ and repetition of abrupt and hasty notes, which would have been tedious and of little benefit.
It will here be proper to mention, that prompt redress and "condign" punishment upon the heads of those high officers, whose false and pitiless misrepresentations occasioned the final catastrophe, has since been demanded, in firm and dignified terms, by her Majesty's plenipotentiary; and one of the conditions insisted on was, "that the property of the high authorities of the island, who were perfidiously concerned in the affair, should be confiscated, and the amount paid over to the officers of the British government, to be applied to the relief and support of the families of the innocent men who suffered."
By the orders of the Emperor, a strict investigation has been made into all the circumstances connected with the dreadful event; and a report has been sent up to Pekin, by the Viceroy of Fokien, condemnatory of the misrepresentation and duplicity of the authorities of Formosa.
The whole of the fifty-seven individuals who were on board the Ann quitted the wreck at daylight; and, having marched along the shore about two miles, they fell in with two junks, lying wind-bound in a small river or creek. They hoped to be able to put to sea, and stretch across to Amoy; but the gale continued so violent that it prevented them from getting out of the creek. They were not ill-treated by the Chinese junkmen, but, as they were without food of any kind, and exposed to a cold, cutting wind, it was soon evident that they must surrender themselves to the Chinese authorities. Soldiers soon gathered round them in crowds; and, as they had very little ammunition, any attempt to defend themselves, which might have caused the death of some of the soldiers, or of the mob, would certainly have been followed by the massacre of the whole party. In the afternoon, they all gave themselves up, without having fired a single shot, and without attempting to make any kind of resistance. They were immediately stripped and marched away, exposed to the most cutting wind and sleet, without any covering, their feet cut by the sharp shells with which the beach was covered, and with very little allowance of food. It is not surprising, therefore, that two men soon died from fatigue and exposure, and several others fell from sheer exhaustion, and were obliged to be carried along in baskets; others were afterwards carried in sedans, more for sake of security than from any feeling of compassion for them. It was remarked, that during the whole journey of thirteen or fourteen days, to the capital of the island, the lascars or Indian sailors shewed a great deal of bad and selfish behaviour towards each other. Each man of the party had a ticket fastened round his neck, stating what he was, and whence he was brought; being treated in this respect like public criminals. For a great length of time their food was only salt fish and greens, with sometimes rice. They suffered all sorts of abuse and indignities in every town and village through which they passed; but it is remarked, "that the women (who did not appear to be at all secluded) did not join in this, although they exhibited the usual curiosity of the sex." They were observed throughout the whole journey to be very plain, but they had a pretty fashion of dressing their hair, by weaving natural flowers amongst it.[58]
After the first two or three days, they came to a considerable walled town, where they were placed for the night in two cells, about eight feet by seven feet, in which twenty-five unfortunate beings were stowed, with nothing to lie upon, the weather being intensely cold. Three guards were placed over them. The rest of the party were taken by a different route, but they all ultimately reached the capital. One large town they came to was enclosed, as were some others, by a high, red brick wall. It was situated in a large paddy swamp or valley, interspersed here and there with small hamlets, around which the bamboo plantations were growing in great beauty and luxuriance, and of extraordinary height, many of them measuring upwards of sixty feet. In some of the smaller towns and villages, the so-called gates (for they all had them) were constructed of bamboo. The country appeared well cultivated in many parts, and wheat and sugar-cane were met with; but other parts of the country were very barren, and covered with large stones, such as are called "boulders," in some parts of England. Generally, the men were made to wear handcuffs, but they were not of great strength, for some of the party managed to break them off; and they were then carried along in chairs, under a strong guard of soldiers, but were occasionally allowed to walk. Wherever they went, the crowd and annoyance of the hosts of curious gazers, who frequently insulted them, was so great that it was a relief to get lodged in the common gaol, which was divided into several cells, each cell having cages in it, made of wooden bars, just like the dens of wild beasts. The cells were also provided with a regular pair of stocks, in order to afford greater security, if required. One of the cells was filled with Chinese prisoners.
The great object of the mandarins now appeared to be, to get some of the party to admit that the Ann was a man-of-war, sent to look after the crew of the Nerbudda, who were known to be still upon the island. With this view, two of the men were mercilessly beaten, but without the desired effect. So common and so public a practice did opium-smoking appear to be, that even the soldiers who acted as an escort carried their opium-pipes in their girdles. For the first twelve days, the prisoners were never allowed to wash even their faces, and at length they could only do it in a dirty pool by the road side. For the last four days before they reached the capital, called Ty-wan-foo, they were compelled to wear leg-irons as well as handcuffs. Generally, they were allowed to purchase their own food during the journey; for which purpose a little money was given to them, at the rate of one mace, or about fivepence, a day. But this was only after the first few days.
It was remarked that wheel-carts were in common use in the island, and tracks of them were seen in all directions. On the mainland of China these are unknown, except in the neighbourhood of Pekin; but, in the island of Hainan, to the southward of Canton, they are very common, and similar in construction to those in use upon Formosa. They are, however, very clumsy and inconvenient; the wheels, which are small, being composed of two semicircular pieces of solid wood, joined together, with the axle fixed into the wheel itself, so as to revolve with it, and not within it, but made to turn round under the body of the cart. The roads or causeways are generally broader than upon the mainland, and were in many places shaded with bamboos on each side. Several rivers were crossed near the capital, and the country was somewhat improved in appearance.