Extract from a dispatch from the British consul at Tien-tsin to Her Majesty’s minister, June 3, 1873

Extract from a dispatch from the British consul at Tien-tsin to Her Majesty’s minister.

I have the honor to inclose copy of a general plan of Hsin Chêng, on the Peiho River, kindly placed at my disposal by M. de Coutenson, military attaché of the French legation, in whose company I visited the place on the 27th ult.

I have added some explanatory remarks, and though Hsin Chêng itself appears in the plan on too large a scale, the general idea conveyed is sufficiently accurate.

The new, town (so Hsin Chêng may be translated) is a square to be surrounded by a wall and a navigable canal, (so we were told on the spot,) the former of which is now in course of construction. We were told that this wall would be 970 feet long on each of the four sides, 170 feet wide, and 26 feet high, but these measurements, I believe, are exaggerated.

The commander-in-chief, with whom we breakfasted, told us that he had 20,000 men under his command in the eighteen temporary intrenched camps now in the neighborhood. The men will all be removed from these into Hsin Chêng when the works now in progress are completed, pending which the old Taku road has also been blocked up, as we saw on the east side of the town, and a new road made to the southward of the position.

The intrenched positions at the bends of the river, both above and below this town, marked “a” and “c” on the plan, will, I believe, be retained. The latter, indeed, is not in the Hsin Chêng but in the Taku military district, and is garrisoned only by artillery.

We were much struck by the fine appearance of the “hwai yung” (soldiery) at Hsin Chêng, and the heartiness with which they worked. I mentioned this to an officer who accompanied us over the works, and he said it was because no opium-smoking was allowed in the camps, and the men were kept under very strict discipline.

General Wu had previously informed us that the punishment for opium-smoking was slitting or excision of the upper lip for the first offense, and decapitation for the second.

Hsin Chêng is by river about fifteen miles above Taku, and five miles below Koku, the adjoining country on the river-side being well wooded, but that on the south and southeast a barren plain. It seems to be a well-chosen position for defensive warfare.

Tasked the general’s secretary if they had any torpedoes, and he said “yes.” They are called shun to lei, or “submarine thunder,” and he explained that they were exploded by a galvanic battery.

The general has been studying the geography and history of the western nations, and mentioned with special admiration the names of Washington, Napoleon, and Mahomet. He seemed to find a good deal of satisfaction in contrasting the population and area of China with England, France, and the other European countries. * * *