In this way, month after month continued to drag its slow length along. At the end of about three months' close confinement, a slight change for the better took place; they were moved into rather better quarters, where they were only three together, so that they had more room to breathe; they were also allowed water to wash themselves, and a little money was given to them. It was thought that this arose in consequence of information received by the authorities that there was some chance of an attack being made upon this island, by our forces at Amoy, with a view to liberate the prisoners. It was now ascertained, also, that the fisherman who had promised to carry over the letter to Amoy, two months before, had succeeded in his attempt, and an answer had been brought back by him, which held out the prospect of speedy release. Another letter was also sent off to Amoy; so that now at length their hopes again revived. But sickness had already begun its work, and their minds were so depressed that even the boldest, who tried to bear up bravely to the last, recorded his feelings that "One miserable day passed after another, with nothing to help them to break in upon the wretchedness of their existence; no exercise being permitted, and nothing, in fact, to relieve the dreadful monotony of such prison life." And what was the little improvement in their lot, which resulted from their removal into other cells? "We now, (three of us,") said he, "have five planks with a mat upon them to sleep on, and glad we are to get into this new place, which is the Executioners Den, and which, until we had ourselves cleaned it, could never have been cleaned since it was built." On other occasions it is noted, "we scalded our clothes this morning, to kill the vermin."
It was thought that the day they were removed into this new berth must have been the Emperor's birthday, or some day of rejoicing, for they had at the same time a dinner of roast pork, with sweet cakes, and each man received one mace, or fivepence in money. But this was too good to last—a mere freak of fortune! Generally speaking, their food was so bad, that a great part of it was thrown away, and it was only by quarrelling with the jailers, and threatening to complain to the high mandarin, that they could succeed in procuring any eatable food at all.
In the month of June, several shocks of an earthquake were felt, followed by terrific storms of thunder and lightning. It is due to the better class of mandarins to remark, that when complaints were made to them, they procured some temporary improvement for the prisoners.
On the 4th of July, it was made known that honours and rewards had been largely conferred upon the mandarins, for having contrived to make so many prisoners. This was in answer to their false accounts of the business to the Emperor, in which they said that they had attacked and destroyed two English men-of-war which came prying into the coast, and had taken all the people prisoners, enumerating the number of black, and red, and white barbarians, and the quantity of barbarian guns.
On the 10th of July, Mr. Gully, who had necessarily been ailing for some time, became seriously ill with dysentery, brought on in a great measure by eating large quantities of mangoes. The Chinese recommended him two cures for it; one was, to eat the skins of the mangoes alone; the other, to eat opium. The former he found to have a good effect, at least so far that his complaint improved under the treatment; the latter he was able to purchase at a moderate price from the visitors, who brought it on purpose for him; it was different from the extract which is used for smoking, and apparently much less powerful.
The same mandarin who had given them a treat upon the Emperor's birthday all along shewed more interest in their condition than any of the others; and one day, in the hope of inducing him to give them some kind of indulgence, they told him that it was the birthday of the Queen of England's eldest child, and that they all entertained so strong a feeling of "filial obedience" and affection towards their queen, that they wished to celebrate the event. To their great surprise and delight, the mandarin's heart was moved by this appeal, and he gave each of them money; to some five mace, to others three, (equal to about two shillings,) and then sent them a good dinner, and made himself quite agreeable; and, of course, all the inferior officers, including the jailers, took their tone for the day from their superior. On another occasion, the lascars were all brought up before the chief mandarin, having had new clothes first given to them, and he himself then presented each of them with a fan!
All these circumstances naturally tended to revive their hopes, and little did they dream of the horrible catastrophe which was soon to take place. Towards the end of July they were informed, that in the course of half a moon more an answer would be received from Pekin, containing the Emperor's commands as to what was to be done with the prisoners; and they were warned that, if his majesty ordered that they should be decapitated, it would immediately be carried into effect. From this it would seem that the authorities fully anticipated that the representations which they had made would induce the Emperor to issue such a cruel command; but the prisoners themselves still retained sufficient hope to induce them to disbelieve the probability of such a tragedy. With the exception of Captain Denham (whose life was saved) and the Chinese carpenter, it does not appear that any of them were tortured; but the dreadful cries of some of the Chinese prisoners could be distinctly heard; and two poor fellows were seen passing by with their hands blackened, having been condemned to have them chopped off.
One remark is worth recording—namely, that the mandarins, from the highest to the lowest, as well as all their servants and attendants, were in the constant habit of smoking opium. Tobacco was also in general use, as elsewhere in China, and was extensively cultivated on the island. There was also noticed (what should have been mentioned before) a curious vine-like plant, grown upon trellis-work, and frequently observed to be carefully covered up with mats; what it was no one knew, but more care and attention seemed to be bestowed upon it than upon anything else which was seen upon the island.
The final tragedy is believed to have taken place upon the 12th or 13th of August, and is too horrible to dwell upon. They were beheaded with the sword.
It is difficult to account for their having reserved nine individuals from the general massacre. Of these, six were Europeans or Americans, and three natives of India. It is supposed that they were retained in order to be sent to Pekin, to be there cut in pieces. Fortunately, the treaty of peace saved their lives, and they were at length conveyed to Amoy, and there met with all the attention they so much needed from their own countrymen.