The Chinese admiral, the fine old Kwan, lost the red ball or button of his cap, the emblem of his rank, during the encounter with the junks. It was reported that he wished to meet his death at the hands of his foe, and was with some difficulty borne off by his attendants; but this fate was reserved for him on a future occasion, and he shewed himself a chivalrous and brave man. The loss of his ball or button, which has certain marks upon it which probably indicate that it is conferred by imperial favour as an emblem of rank, seemed naturally to occasion him the greatest possible anxiety and trouble. He, in fact, made application for it to be returned to him, if it chanced to have been found; and it is gratifying to know that, through the intervention of Captain Elliot, her majesty's plenipotentiary, it was recovered and generously restored to him.
The total number of guns taken or rendered unserviceable during the operations of this day, ashore and afloat, amounted to one hundred and seventy-three pieces, including eighty-two in the junks, of which a few were brass, but mostly of small calibre.
The junks with which the Nemesis was engaged in Anson's Bay were provided with quite a new sort of boarding-nettings, if they can be so called. Probably old Admiral Kwan, whose reputation as a seaman was not very great, had heard that English ships of war were sometimes provided with nets when going into action; and, therefore, without knowing very well what might be the purpose of them, he determined to have them likewise. But he made a sad mistake concerning the object for which they were intended. He very naturally thought, that, in the position which he had taken up in shallow water, only the boats of the squadron could come close to him, and he hit upon the bright notion of trying to catch them with his nets, just as a poacher catches his sleeping game by throwing a net over them. A number of strong fishing-nets were fastened all round the sides of the junks, not extended so as to impede any one trying to get on board, but triced up outside over each of the guns, in such a way, that, when our boats should come alongside, the nets were to be thrown over them, men and all; and thus our jolly tars were to be caught like hares in their form, and handed over to the tender mercies of the emperor.
No sooner, however, did the guns of the Nemesis open fire, than the nets were all forgotten in their fear of the shot and the rockets; and, long before the boats could get alongside, the defenders and men-catchers were glad to be off, to avoid being themselves caught.
A more unwieldy-looking machine, or one less calculated for efficient service at sea, than the old-fashioned junks, can scarcely be conceived. Although, since the commencement of the war, they have gradually improved them very much in the fashion of the hull, the masts and sails, and all that appertains to the rigging of a vessel, are very little different from what they have hitherto been.
It should be noticed, that the boats and smaller rigged vessels of the Chinese are generally very much superior to their large junks in form and convenience of arrangement, and often sail very well. The family to whom the boat belongs lives entirely on board, and, for the combined purposes for which their boats are generally used, perhaps no arrangement could be better adapted for making the most of a limited space; and they are, moreover, kept remarkably clean.
The war-junks are of different sizes, and have guns varying in number from four to fourteen, and even more, mounted upon them, of various calibre, some of foreign make, but principally Chinese. The smaller junks are also adapted for oars or sweeps, of which they sometimes can work as many as twenty on either side. The crew are further provided with a great number of spears, swords, matchlocks, and frequently large jingals, not unlike our musquetoons, fitted with a rest upon the bulwarks of the vessel, so as to give the power of taking a steady aim. There are generally a large number of round shields on board, made in a saucer-like fashion, and about two and a half to three feet in diameter. They are composed of ratans, or canes, strongly twisted or woven in together, and are so elastic, that it would be very difficult to cut through them with a sword; and even a musket-ball fired from a long distance, and hitting them at all in a slanting direction, would be turned off. They are usually hung all round the bulwarks, resting upon the top and outside of them, giving a very striking appearance.
A large junk puts one very much in mind of one of the old Roman galleys, only it is less efficiently constructed for venturing away from land, and is not unfrequently gaudily ornamented with green and yellow colours.
Several improvements have been adopted by the Chinese since the commencement of the war. They had constructed a number of gun-boats for the defence of the river higher up, upon European models; and, towards the close of the war, they built one or two large junks, which they called frigates, with great improvements in shape and general arrangement, and regular port-holes for the guns on the deck below, and with heavy guns, too, mounted in them. One of these we saw near the Bogue, after the peace, mounting thirty-six guns, all of foreign manufacture, many of them 9 and 12-pounder iron guns, made by Fawcett, of Liverpool, and purchased either at Macao or at Singapore. The junk was very clean, and in good order, painted green, and coppered; and, with the exception of the masts and sails, which were in the old style, she looked very well. This vessel was said to have been constructed by order of Tinqua, one of the Hong merchants, who has distinguished himself by his zeal in defence of his country; and it was by him presented to the emperor, together with a European barque, and a brig, rather the worse for wear in the merchant service, which he purchased at considerable cost.
But the most remarkable improvement of all, and which shewed the rapid stride towards a great change which they were daily making, as well as the ingenuity of the Chinese character, was the construction of several large wheeled vessels, which were afterwards brought forward against us with great confidence, at the engagement at Woosung, the last naval affair of the war, and were each commanded by a mandarin of rank, shewing the importance they attached to their new vessels. This, too, was so far north as the Yangtze Keang, where we had never traded with them; so that the idea must have been suggested to them by the reports they received concerning the wonderful power of our steamers or wheeled vessels.