CHAPTEE XVII. 



THE SAME, AND A FEW INCIDENTS WHICH HAPPENED 

 IN THE LAST CHINA WAB. 



My friends the pirates were not always very polite. I 

 knew, of course, they would have relished getting hold 

 of me. Occasionally they managed to convey messages 

 such as, "We'U skin him;" "We'll hlow him out of 

 the water," and so on. The latter considerate inclina- 

 tion came so decidedly in April 1866 that I thought 

 they really might mean something,'and the Admiral, who 

 happened to be in port, rather reluctantly gave me per- 

 mission to go out. He was at first anxious I should take 

 two gun-boats, but I knew my only chance of teaching 

 them a lesson was to go alone. Puckshui, which I had 

 previously burnt to the ground, was the spot these bits 



