FRAY WITH CHINESE. 209 



looking man than the rest began talking in 

 Turki. My orderly, a servant of the Aksakal, 

 who was with me, and who had kept at a discreet 

 distance during the fray, now came up, and told 

 them, as far as I could understand, that I was a 

 friend of the Amban, &c. 



Considering I had sufficiently punished the 

 chief offender, I turned away and rode home. 

 Soon after, the Aksakal came to my bungalow in 

 a great state of mind, saying he must report the 

 matter to the Chinese authorities. I told him not 

 to do so, as I had punished " John" sufficiently. 

 But he said the Amban would certainly hear 

 about it, and if he did not take personal notice, 

 would call him over the coals, as he was in a 

 manner responsible for my safety in the place. I 

 therefore told him just to explain the matter, and 

 say that the soldiers had been impertinent, and 

 that I felt called upon to punish the chief offender 

 with my own hand, and was quite satisfied. I 

 had, in fact, marked my man on the face for some 

 time to come, quite sufficiently to serve as a moral 

 lesson for him and his friends in the future to 

 leave harmless Britishers alone. 



The wall round the orchard where my tent 

 was pitched was about 8 feet high, and as I sat 



o 



