()10 LOOT OF THK IMTElilAL SUMMEU f ALACK AT PKKIN. 



was scpiii'atcd from tluMii by an entire reoimont. and had onouoh to 

 do to save himself. Tiie Chinese no longer asked iiim to visit their 

 tent, hut attacked him and his escort. He and his men took their 

 hridh's in their teeth, their saix'rs in their hands, and. urj^ino- their 

 horses, succeeded in oxerturniui^ those about them and forcing- tlieir 

 way tiir(»u<:h. and in spite of tiu^ t'usiUade. thou^-h th(> riders and 

 horses were injured ))y the l)ails. no one was dismounted. Upon see- 

 ing- their e.scape, the Chinese fired three cannon shots, the signal for 

 the l)attle. 



[The author describes the tijjlit, under these circumstances, of the French and 

 I<>nghsh arinie.s, who had t(j conquer or die on the spot. They conquered, i)utting 

 the Chinese to rout.] 



Hardly was the combat over when a common thouj^-ht occupied us 

 all — what had become of our P^uropean officers shut up in Tanofcheou ? 

 Those who had escaped and whose return I lune mentioned had told 

 us what they saw on the 17th in the aftei-noon when they arrived in 

 the city. Th(^ mandarins had received them nu)st courteously, under- 

 takin»i- to con(hn-t them to lodo-ino-s prepared for them in advance. 

 De Lauture.his .secretary, and two soldiers followed one of these man- 

 darins and were taken to the Yamen. The otlnM's had g-one to inter- 

 view the Chines{> functionaries who were to aid them in the supply of 

 food for oui' troops. 



M. Bastard had asked an audience of Prince Tsai. The conver- 

 sation was cordial, but the ])rince was now })reparing to trick our 

 poor secretary of embassy, pliiying with him as a cat plays with a 

 nn)use. He approved all the terms of our am))assador*s dispatch, and 

 only objected to the demand for escort of 1,000 men. which, however, 

 he conceded with a faint smile. Baron (iros (our ambassador) had 

 asked his secretary to demand letters of credence for this Chinese pleni- 

 potentiary. In the face of this matter-of-course demand, the Chinese 

 functionary could not conceal a mov(Mnent of anger, and replied that 

 bcMvould agree to the retiuest. but that he uuist express his lively indig- 

 nation at such a demand l>eing made of him; of him, who, he said, had 

 never lied, whose authority was superior to that of all plenipotenti- 

 aries, and whose signature was as valid as that of the Emperor's. 



It must be remembered that while he was talking in thi.s way to the 

 French representative the Chinese were massing their troops and were 

 charging their cannon. Do not forget, either, that the Chinese of to- 

 da}' have the same character that they had then. 



After having received the official reply of the prince, M. Bastard 

 started early in the morning to regain the French camp, escaping 

 miraculously from the hands of these wretches, though at the ulti- 

 mate cost of his life, his experiences having developed the germ of 

 some cerebral malady from which he died. 



As to those of our people who had not fjeen able to get back, a))Out 



