A CRUISE UP THE YANGSTZE IN 1858-59. 211 



tions as this at present being inflicted upon them by 

 Taepingism. Indeed, Nankin only became the capital 

 of the Chinese rulers as recently as 1368, when, after 

 a rebellion extending over ninety years, they suc- 

 ceeded in ousting their Mongol conquerors, and its 

 greatness and fame were almost the creation of one 

 remarkable monarch, the Ming emperor, Hungwu, 

 for his successors foolishly established their capital at 

 Pekin, and fell, as they deserved, beneath the swords 

 and influence of the Manchu the master of to-day 

 and against whom the Taepings are to-day avowedly 

 at war. We will not at present be tempted to go off 

 on this theme, but hasten on through the 150 miles 

 of river between Nankin and Ngan-king, the once 

 flourishing capital of the province of Ngan-king. 



Ten miles above Nankin we passed beyond the 

 limits of the excellent survey of 1842, and two hills 

 which mark that boundary ought to bear the names 

 of those twin-brothers of Science, Captains Henry 

 Kellett and Collinson ; and then another forty miles 

 of water brought us to Woo-hoo, where the Susque- 

 hannah American frigate reached some years previ- 

 ously. One Chinese town is so wretchedly like 

 another, that we will not say more than that we 

 passed several important cities in these forty miles, 

 and many villages, all of them in Taeping hands, and 

 all in a greater or less degree of dilapidation. Twenty 

 miles above Woo-hoo, the Retribution was obliged to 

 part company at a town called Kew-shien, and anchor 



