About twenty miles from Ty-wan-foo they passed a night in a large town, with walls built of chunam; at the entrance of which were placed several very long guns, not mounted on carriages, but fixed upon the ground, rather to indicate their good intentions than their ability to perform them. Here again they were lodged in the common gaol; and, on the following morning, the Chinese servant who had been taken prisoner with them had a chain put round his neck, in addition to his leg-irons and handcuffs. The next night (the last before they entered the capital) was spent at an inn by the road-side, which was so crowded with travellers that scarcely any food could be procured. The Chinese had regular fights and scrambles for the little which was to be had, and their appetites appeared by no means delicate; but, whether their hunger was appeased or not, they were all prepared in the evening to enjoy in good earnest the luxury of the opium-pipe, soldiers and travellers all alike; nor did the two mandarins who were present interfere in any manner to point out its impropriety.
On the 24th March, (fourteenth day since the wreck,) they were destined to make their wretched entrance into the capital. At the distance of six or seven miles from it, they were met by an officer and a few soldiers, by whom their names and their numbers were called over, according to a list which the officer held in his hand, and they were then separated into smaller parties, and led by different routes into the city. As they approached the gate, they, for the first time, caught a glimpse of the sea, with a few junks at anchor at a distance, towards which they hopelessly strained their longing eyes. The walls of the city appeared to be in a state of dilapidation, except near the gateway, where they had been recently repaired and whitewashed. The prisoners were now fairly within the capital of Formosa, and were conducted to an open space, planted thickly with trees, but broken up by rough watercourses, over which there were several bridges of stone. Thence they were led through back lanes, avoiding the principal streets, to the house of a high mandarin, in front of which they halted for a short time; and such was the pressure of the crowd and the curiosity of the people, that the chairs in which they had been brought were nearly pulled to pieces before they were ordered to get out and enter the outer gateway of the mandarin's house.
Here they were drawn up in line, to have the tickets round their necks copied; but before the process could be half finished, the pressure of the crowd became so great that the mandarins were obliged to discontinue the task. A ludicrous scene followed, which, for the moment, afforded amusement even to the prisoners themselves. The enraged mandarins charged the mob in great fury, and whipped them with their long tails, which, having silk woven on to the ends, gave some tolerable cuts to the people's faces. For a few minutes our hapless prisoners were put for refuge into a small temple which was close at hand; but even here the mob pressed so hard upon them that the door was nearly smashed in; and, as a last resource, they were marched off, with heavy irons on their legs, which bruised them at every step, to a prison in the courtyard of a superior mandarin's house, about one hundred yards distant. Here their treatment was very bad; for several successive days they were brought up before the mandarin to answer an infinity of questions, many of them very puerile, about the names, ages, and duties of every one on board the Ann; also about geography and the possessions of Great Britain, and where the poppy was grown; how money was raised, &c. &c. The Chinese carpenter of the vessel acted as interpreter; and, on one occasion, both he and the other Chinaman were severely flogged with bamboos.
After some time, those who could draw were allowed to sketch ships, carriages, and other things, which exceedingly amused the Chinese, who were glad to purchase them; so that by these means they were able to procure food and tobacco, and thus to diminish in some degree their chances of being carried off by starvation or sickness.
After the lapse of a week or two, fever broke out, and they were then separated into smaller parties, and put into different cells or prisons, some faring better, some worse, according to the temper or caprice, or even roguery, of the particular jailer who chanced to have charge of them. One of these wretches seems to have been a perfect fiend of his class; he kept one party of ten miserable human beings in a den so small that not one of them could lie down at night. It will scarcely be believed that they were made to exist for two whole months in this horrid black hole, only eleven feet six inches long, by seven feet six inches wide; grudging each other every little inch of room, and longing even for the little bit of space which the single insensible bucket, which was the only piece of furniture, occupied in their den. Here were ten human beings stowed away together, some sick, some sore, and all in pain and misery. For some time they were not permitted to come out of the den at all, but at last they were let out once a day, and were allowed a very little water to wash themselves; only two or three, however, could wash themselves on the same day, so that the whole of them could only be able to wash themselves once in three days. Of course, they were dreadfully infected with vermin of every kind, and, as the author of the journal expresses it, "A few weeks have sufficed to bring me down from a strong hale man, to a wretched helpless being, disgusted with myself."
Many attempts were made to get a note sent across to Amoy, to give information of their situation; and the promise of one hundred dollars on its safe delivery, and one hundred more on bringing an answer back, (to be paid at Amoy,) sufficed to induce a tolerable trusty Chinaman to undertake the task. We shall see presently how far it succeeded. It has before been stated that the several parties fared differently, according to the humanity or rapacity of the particular jailer. Something also depended upon the particular mandarin under whose supervision they were placed, but it is noticed that the highest, or red-button mandarin, was the best of all, and frequently ordered some of the hardships they complained of to be remedied, particularly as regarded the quality of the food.
On the other hand, it is stated, that one of the jailers, who was humane enough to allow his party of prisoners to be shaved, was taken before a mandarin and punished with fifty strokes of the bamboo; after which, no visitors were allowed to see them at all, and the jailer became very sulky, except when he was drunk, which he generally was, by the use of opium, every evening. Sometimes they were taken out of prison in order to draw for the mandarins, at others, to undergo repeated examinations for their amusement. In the first instance, however, the object invariably was, to betray them into an admission, however remote, that the vessel was really a man-of-war. But it was quite evident that they knew perfectly well that she was not so, and at length the red-button mandarin put an end to this part of the business. From this time, their questions were more of a general nature, but many of them were exceedingly absurd. The mention of Sir Henry Pottinger's name (for they appeared already to have heard of him) invariably made them angry, and on one occasion they inquired whether he was a white or a black man. They also inquired a good deal about the Queen, her court, and ministers, mode of life, &c., and how many husbands she was allowed to have; expressing great astonishment when they learned that in Europe kings and queens, as well as private individuals, had only one wife or husband; and then they proceeded to enumerate the virtues of their own emperor, and to plume themselves upon their own cleverness.
On one occasion, they asked whether America had not, some time or other, been situated in England? whether a man could now walk from London to America in a week? how large London was, and how many outside (foreign) nations are subject or tributary to England? Endless were their curious questions, and on one occasion they exhibited an officer's jacket, and a corporal's coat with the 55th button on it, and particularly inquired the use of an epaulette, which they held up, fancying it was intended to be worn on the head.
During the first half of the month of May, it rained incessantly, and they were very imperfectly protected from its effects. In fact, the rain always beat through their roof, and when it was heavy, or long continued, it flooded their den: the least bit of dry plank, or a partially sheltered corner, was matter of envy and contention; and, as may be supposed, they not only suffered from bad food, confinement, vermin, and ill-health, but were incessantly tormented with the most venomous mosquitoes, producing inflammation and sores. In this condition they were kept in the most harassing state of suspense; one day being assured that they would be sent away in a month; another, that they had no chance of liberty for six months; and the very next, perhaps, that their heads would soon be taken off.
Fortunately, the talent for drawing possessed by Mr. Gully and Captain Denham, served to gain for them friends and pacify enemies.