26 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. II. 
from the guns of the Chinese at the taking of Amoy. 
In the autumn of 1843 the sickness amongst the 
officers and men of the 18th Royal Irish was almost 
unprecedented : dismay was painted in every counte- 
nance, for every one had lost his comrade or his friend. 
It was dismal indeed. I have known many who were 
healthy and well one day, and on the morrow at sunset 
their remains were carried to their last resting-place. 
The little English burial-place was already nearly full, 
and the earth was red and fresh with recent interments, 
scarcely a day passing without two or three being added 
to the number of the dead. And yet, what was rather 
strange, a detachment of the 41st M. N. I., commanded 
by Captain Hall, were, officers and men, all perfectly 
healthy ; they were, however, on a different part of the 
island. 
I fear that the more we know of China the more will 
be dispelled the notions of its being a healthy country, 
which we had formed from the experience of those who 
lived in their shaded airy houses at Macao and Canton. 
During my rambles on Koo-lung-soo I stumbled on the 
tombstones of some Englishmen, who, according to the 
inscriptions on them, had been interred upwards of one 
hundred and fifty years : their graves had been preserved 
during that long period by the Chinese, who seem to 
pay great respect to the tombs of the dead. Lately the 
stones had been replaced and the tombs repaired by one 
of our captains on the coast, who for this respectful and 
praiseworthy act had acquired amongst his comrades the 
name of Old Mortality. 
In the midst of such rocky mountains and barren 
