The public offices were taken possession of by our troops, and all the arms and warlike stores which were found were destroyed. Only sixty thousand dollars, worth of Sycee silver was found in the public coffers; but a little addition was made to the prize fund by the sale of articles which were taken from plunderers, when they were discovered trying to carry property out of the gates. The waste and destruction of property was, however, enormous. When more valuable objects were discovered, those of smaller value were left in the streets; costly furs lay strewed in all directions; silks and satins lay about in such profusion that the only difficulty was to choose among them. So little had the inhabitants expected that their stronghold would fall, that valuables of all kinds, gems, and gold ornaments, and curiosities of every description, and in some instances even money, were left in the wardrobes of the best houses, at the mercy of the first comers. Under these circumstances, it is surprising that so little plunder was carried away from a city taken by assault.

Terrible as was the downfall of Chin-keang-foo in the eyes of the Chinese, and great as was the desolation throughout the city in every direction, it cannot be doubted that the loss of this important Tartar stronghold, and the panic created by it, (the whole trade of the country being at the same time suspended,) tended very materially to produce in the mind of the Emperor and of his ministers the conviction that a speedy peace, on any terms, was preferable to a continuance of the war.[70]

FOOTNOTES:

[68] He was jocularly christened Corporal White.

[69] The extent and importance of the numerous rivers which traverse this vast empire cannot but strike every one with astonishment. Most of them naturally take their course from west to east, from the mountains towards the sea; but there is one important exception to this rule. The river Amoor, or Sagalin, takes its rise from numerous branches along the Kinkow mountains, not far from Kiachta and Maimaichis, the two places at which trade is carried on with Russia, and after taking a tortuous course to the northward, it receives a very large branch, called the Schilka, which rises within the Russian frontier in the Baikal mountains, and at length, after traversing the whole of Mantchouria, empties itself into the sea of Okotsk, not far from the Russian frontier. The caravans from Kiachta have to cross most of the numerous branches of this river on their way to Pekin.

[70] NAMES OF MILITARY OFFICERS KILLED AND WOUNDED AT CHIN-KEANG-FOO.

H.M.'s 49th regiment,Lieut. T. P. Gibbons, Sub. Ass. Com. Gen., killed.
" 18th "Captain Collinson, killed.
6th M.N.I. "Lieut. Col. Drever, fell dead from sun-stroke.
WOUNDED.
Royal Artillery Lieut. J. N. A. Freese, slightly.
Madras Artillery Lieut. Waddell, severely.
" Assistant Surgeon ——, severely.
H.M.'s 49th Lieut. Baddeley, dangerously.
" Lieut. Grant, slightly.
" 18th Lieut. Bernard, slightly.
" 26th Ensign Duperier, slightly.
" 55th Major Warren, severely.
" Lieut. Cuddy, severely.
2nd M.N.I. Lieut. Carr, Adjutant, slightly.
" Ensign Travers, slightly.
36th M.N.I. Rifles Capt. Simpson, severely.

TOTAL LOSS.

Killed, three officers, two sergeants, twenty-nine rank and file. Total, thirty-four.
Wounded, fourteen officers, one warrant-officer, four sergeants, eighty-seven rank and file, one follower. Total, one hundred and seven. Missing, three men. Grand total in the military arm, killed, wounded, and missing, all ranks, one hundred and forty-four.
Of these, one officer (Lieutenant-Colonel Drever) and sixteen rank and file, of H.M. 98th and 49th regiments, were killed by sun-stroke.
In the naval arm of the expedition, one officer of marines and two privates were killed, and two private marines wounded. Four officers of the Royal Navy and fifteen seamen were wounded. The names of the above naval officers have been mentioned in the narrative.
Grand total in the naval arm, 24.
Grand total of casualties during the day, one hundred and sixty-eight.