Part 12

making easy marches, for the roads in China are not macadamised. On the way the Chinese again made professions of peace, and by the time we had got halfway Lord Elgin a second time felt so satisfied the enemy would give in that he sent your friend Mr. Parkes on to Zung-chow, which is about 60 miles from Tien-tsin and 10 short of Pekin, to communicate with these people. He returned with information that the Chinese agreed to everything — that our troops were to halt four miles short of Zung-chow, while Lord Elgin was to go on to the town with an escort and sign the convention. On the 17th Parkes started again for Zung-chow to make final arrangements, with an escort of 20 cavalry under a flag of truce, two of the Embassy, the Times correspondent, and three officers. We followed on the 1 8th with a force of 1900 infantry, 700 cavalry, and 15 guns. The French had a force of about 1000 and 6 guns. On arriving near the ground where the Chinese proposed we should halt, instead of seeing Chinese Commissioners we found an army of Tartars drawn up, 30,000 strong, occupying a position nearly five miles long; the rascals had been deceiving us all along, and thought to get us into a trap and annihilate us. We immediately halted to see what all this meant. In the meantime Parkes, escort and all, had left Zungchow again, to meet us on the road and show us the way, when they, to their surprise, came across this army drawn up to bar our further progress. He at once rode back with 1 7 troopers to remonstrate with the authorities at Zung-chow against this apparent act of treachery, leaving Colonel Walker and four dragoons within the enemy's lines, who agreed to wait for him there till he returned. We could see these five moving about in the enemy's position quite plainly. The enemy did not yet molest them, but pretended great civility; this did not last, for presently Colonel Walker felt someone stealthily raise the bottom of his scabbard so as to make his sword drop out, in which they succeeded, while at the same time two men got hold of his