IN THE LAST CHINA WAR. 359 



been all iip with us. The chief officer was a Portu- 

 guese, and was steering the vessel. He, however, 

 entirely lost his head through sheer fright, and putting 

 the helm hard over, ran the steamer for the bank. 

 If we had touched, not a soul would have escaped. 

 Fortunately, the captain saw this little episode of 

 his chief man, rushed to the wheel (I don't know 

 what he did to the Portuguese), and altering the 

 helm, we just shaved the bank, only stirring up the 

 mud; but it was a very close thing. For twenty 

 minutes we were under fire, and got remarkably well 

 peppered. I would not have believed Chinamen could 

 fire so well at a quickly moving object; but then 

 there was such a number of junks, and about 450 

 guns, half of which, I suppose, were firing. Steam told 

 against manual propulsion, and in the above-mentioned 

 time we were out of range, and very soon afterwards 

 snug under the guns of a forty-gun frigate lying at 

 Whampoa. 



The two young ladies behaved during this sharp 

 twenty minutes in the most admirable manner, making 

 neither noise nor fuss. As soon as we were clear 

 of their guns, the little skipper's wrath burst forth 

 against his chief officer, and he was not only ready, but 

 anxious, to shoot the wretched coward who had so 



