A large building in the city was specially set apart for the Chinese wounded, and the great kindness and attention they received at Chapoo produced important effects afterwards upon the authorities, and induced them to treat our prisoners with kindness, instead of torturing them to death, as had frequently been the case. The veteran Elepoo, who was, in fact, at that time governor of Chapoo, (having been partially restored to favour by the Emperor,) expressly thanked the General and the Admiral for their humanity, in a letter written about a month afterwards. "On inquiry," said he, "I found that you gave the hungry rice to eat, and allowed to the wounded medical attendance, and we feel obliged for your kindness and courtesy." But this was not the only mark of their gratitude, as we shall presently relate.
Too much praise cannot be given to the superintending surgeon, Dr. French, (often mentioned in the despatches,) and the other medical officers, for their constant attention to the Chinese wounded, whenever they had an opportunity. Occasionally, however, the Chinese refused all assistance.
Among the Tartar population, who were here for the first time met with, living entirely separate from the Chinese, and preserving their own habits and privileges, it is admitted by all that the most shocking scenes were witnessed; and the similar barbarities which were afterwards observed at the Tartar city of Chin-keang-foo confirm all that has been said of the cruel and revolting practices of that remarkable people in time of war. All accounts concur in giving their testimony to the fact of the self-destruction of whole Tartar families; the women destroying their children, drowning them in wells, and throwing themselves in afterwards; the husbands hanging and poisoning their wives, and deliberately cutting their own throats.
Every effort was made to put a stop to these barbarities, and every means were used to pacify and soothe the people; but as the greater part of the Tartar population had abandoned the Tartar portion of the city, the Chinese rabble set about plundering it, and frightened the few who remained, even more than our own people.
The Tartar town, which was separated from the other by a wall enclosing about one-fourth of the space within the city, presented its peculiar aspect. The houses were disposed something after the manner of tents in an encampment, one of the last traces of the wandering pastoral habits of the race; to each hut was attached a small bit of open ground, with a bamboo fence round it, and a few trees within; and the vine was not unfrequently seen twining itself among the bamboos. Their scanty furniture was more rude than that of the Chinese; and the bow, with its quiver full of arrows, the spear, the sword, and the matchlock, seemed to be the most cherished ornaments of their abode. They alone are permitted to retain their weapons in their own charge. Indeed, the Tartar here lives as a conqueror, and glories in the emblems of conquest which he still has around him. In other respects, they are all subject to the same laws, and wear the same dress, but differ a good deal in their countenance and expression. Commonly the Tartars are a fairer people than the Chinese, and some of them much resemble Europeans.
It is worthy of remark, that the conquerors imposed upon the conquered the practice of shaving the head, excepting the back part, with its long tail; but they themselves took care never to adopt the absurd Chinese custom of preventing the growth of the female foot, and even deforming it, in such a way as to render it nearly useless to its owner. From the Emperor's court to the lowest soldier's wife, no Tartar woman ever has her foot tortured into deformity. At Chusan, I remember seeing a Tartar woman walking about with her natural undeformed feet, and she was looked at as a curiosity by the Chinese inhabitants, who stared and smiled as if they thought it a strange piece of barbarism.
The attention of children to their parents, for which the Chinese as well as Tartars are remarkable, was shewn in many instances, even amid the trials of war, at Chapoo. The aged and infirm were of course unable to fly from the city, and many of these were found in the Tartar houses, carefully tended by their daughters, who stayed behind and braved the expected horrors of an enemy's approach, rather than abandon an aged parent. There were some touching scenes of this kind, and when they found that they were not treated harshly, their fears, which at first were distressing, gradually disappeared.
The country about Chapoo is perhaps one of the richest and most beautifully cultivated spots in the world. It in some respect resembles the prettiest parts of Devonshire. The low hills immediately adjoining the town—the rich, luxuriant, well-watered plain beyond, interspersed with numerous hamlets and villages, with their curiously-shaped blue-tiled roofs, and intersected by canals and causeways, formed a very attractive panorama, and served to indicate the means by which so dense a population is supported. But even there the horrors of war were still to be traced; dead bodies floating along the canals, (probably of wounded who had been carried away and had died,) parties of Chinese plunderers, hastening across the country, laden with every kind of property, and, perhaps, occasionally, a little, quiet European foraging party, hunting out ducks, and fowls, and pigs, for which, however, the peasants were generally very well paid.
It was not the object of Sir Hugh Gough to occupy the city longer than was necessary for the purpose of destroying the arsenals, and property belonging to the government, including, of course, the iron guns, ginjals, &c. The brass ones, some of which were very good, were sent over to Chusan. Several horses, or rather ponies, which had belonged to mandarins, were captured by our officers, and one of these, a stout grey, was carried up to Calcutta in the Nemesis, after the war was over.
The number of Chinese engaged at Chapoo has been estimated at between seven and eight thousand men, of whom about one-fourth were Tartars. It is difficult to estimate the number of their killed and wounded, but it must have been very great; it has been estimated that nearly one-sixth of them suffered more or less. On our side, two officers, one sergeant, and ten men were killed, including three of the naval brigade, of which two belonged to the Nemesis; six officers, one sergeant, and about forty-five men were wounded, many of them severely. The following were the names of the officers killed and wounded: Killed—Lieutenant-Colonel Tomlinson, 18th Royal Irish, and Captain Colin Campbell, 55th regiment, died two or three days after, from a severe wound in the head. Wounded—Staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Mountain, C.B., Deputy-Adjutant-General, severely, (three balls in his back;) Lieutenant A. E. Jodrell, 18th; Lieutenant A. Murray, 18th; Captain T. S. Reynolds, 49th; Lieutenant and Adjutant W. P. K. Browne, 49th; and Lieutenant J. G. Johnstone, Madras Sappers and Miners.