168 NOTES OB TBAVEL IN CHINA. 



are rigidly enforced, and by practising deceit, stratagem, and 

 tyranny, governs a people naturally docile, and maintains hia 

 supremacy. 



About midway between the mouth of the river and Canton, are 

 the *' Bogue Forts" which were captured by the British during the 

 war of 1S12, and which command such a range that they appear to 

 guard the threshold of the Empire. Here the channel begins to 

 narrow, and the hills rise to a great height on either side. Mount- 

 ed batteries line the beach, and forts in design not unlike the 

 Greek letter omega, are built in more elevated positions. They 

 were in a state of decay when I saw them, and the few guns which 

 looked from the embrasures were red with rust : but by recent 

 accounts we learn that they have since been repaired, only to be 

 destroyed by the British. At the summit of the hills are square 

 formed watch towers of granite, from which a signal could be given 

 to the ports below when an enemy approaches. An island 

 situated further up the stream and at an angle of 45 ° with the 

 Forts on shore, is also strongly fortified. 



If nature did as much for the security of some enlightened coun- 

 tries as she has done for China, the science and ingenuity of the 

 people would contribute such acquisitions to the natural strength, as 

 would render the place impregnable. 



A circumstance is related which happened at the " Bogue Forts," 

 during the war of 1842, truly characteristic of the Chinese : 

 but before mentioning it it is necessary to remark that in every part 

 of China which has been visited by foreigners, the attention of the 

 traveller is early arrested in consequence of the incessant noise which 

 the natives keep up by the clang of gongs, the beating of drums, the 

 shrill notes of the flute, the explosion of packages of fire crackers, 

 and the confusion of tongues; this medley not tending in any degree 

 to impress upon the mind of the unaccustomed hearer, the convic- 

 tion that the Chinese have a predilection in favor of quiet. 



Owing to the severity of the penal code, such a sight as an assault 

 made by one Chinaman on the person of another is seldom or 

 never seen, but disputes continually take place followed by angry 

 countenances, rapid contortions of the body, and tirades ' ; full of 

 sound and fury," but " signifying nothing." 



The commander of the Forts understanding that the British fleet 

 was about to make an attack upon the garrison, sent off an officer 

 in a boat with a letter to the British commander. The interpreter 

 whose dialect will be noticed hereafter, translated it as follows : 

 " These two piccie nation must makey fightie, spose that yankilish 



