lobe of the ear, the hole for this purpose
being roughly bored with the point of a dagger.
I suppose it was in consequence of my
being an European that I was not subjected
to the same cruelty, but was allowed to walk
alone. In other respects I fared like the rest.
Driven along precisely like a herd of cattle, the
weaker, who were overpowered by fatigue,
caused intense suffering to those to whom they
were attached, and were themselves cruelly
beaten by the rebels to force them to keep up.
All that day I had nothing but some boiled
rice; for the greater portion of which I was
indebted to a rebel, who was himself
unable to eat it, and offered it to me in
preference to throwing it away. Shortly before
sunset we came to the place where the main
body of the Taepings were encamped, and were
at once driven up to a tent, the sides of
which were raised, and enabled us to have a full
view of a rather stout man with a remarkably
large head: but it may have appeared to me
larger than it really was, from my having been
long accustomed to see shaven heads, whereas
this man wore a thick mass of straight black
hair.

On arriving before him, all, guards as well as
prisoners, threw themselves on their faces on
the ground. I was one of the first to rise, and
when I looked at the Taeping chief I saw he
was listening attentively to what the leader of
the expedition was saying. He was doubtless
giving him an account of what had been done,
for the ingots of silver lay on a cushion at the
back of the tent. I presume there was nothing
in the cases of the other prisoners to take them
out of the ordinary category; for, without any
questions being asked them, they were led away,
but I was ordered to approach the lieutenant of
the "Most Renowned and Exalted Ruler of the
Universe."

The questions he asked me were trivial. They
referred to my nationality; how long I had
been in China; what I had been doing, and so
forth. Having asked these questions, he made
a sign with his hand for me to go, and I was
taken to join the other prisoners. I found
them in the middle of the encampment, still
bound together in the way I have mentioned,
and tied by other cords to stakes driven in
the ground. A number of Taepings
surrounded them, who were jeering at them, and
describing the sufferings that were in store for
them in language which might well account
for the terror they exhibited. It was a relief to
them when I was brought down and tied to a
post also; for their tormentors left them to
crowd round me—an English prisoner being a
novelty to them.

Though the ground had been trodden into soft
mud all round us, we had not even a handful of
straw to spread on it before lying down, and had
to sleep in the best way we could: the only
precaution I took before lying down being to
strip off my outer dress, for the sake of
preserving a more cleanly appearance, and spreading
it over me as a covering. In spite of
the discomfort of sleeping under such
circumstances, I did not wake until daylight next morning,
and was surprised to find that I was
not suffering much from cold. As soon as I
got on my feet and looked about me, I saw that
the place where we had been picketed was
along with the horses. Several of our captors
were already stirring, and I offered the man
nearest to me to clean his horse for him if he
would unfasten the cord which tied me to the
post. This he did willingly enough, and I was
able to dispel the little stiffness that hung about
me, and gained the further advantage of an
addition to the half-boiled rice which was
brought me in common with the other
prisoners.  We tried to comfort each other over
this meal with the belief that as we could only
have been brought away for the sake of extorting
money, our misery would soon be over,
provided the enemy did not demand a sum
beyond the ability of our friends to raise. That
this was their motive was made evident in the
course of the day. After questioning each of
us in succession, we were compelled to give
an order for a certain amount; and we all
expected that this having been done, we had but
to bear up as patiently as we could, until
the return of the party despatched to Chan-
tseou. That night was passed like the preceding;
but next day we were sent to Tyhan, and
shut up in a large apartment, formerly a
storehouse for rice, now used as a prison. The
detachment of troops sent to collect the ransom,
had been obliged to ride back without it, in
consequence of Chan-tseou being occupied by
imperial troops who had arrived from Shanghai.

With our arrival at Tyhan our torments
began. The first day was confined to petty
annoyances. Our rice was given to us in filthy
earthenware vessels, and the jailer and his
assistants made it still more disgusting by raising
the ends of their bamboo staves from
the nasty floor and, with a jeering remark that
it was too hot to eat and wanted stirring,
thrusting them into the mess. An assistant
afterwards came round with a pitcher of water,
and poured a quantity into each of the vessels
from which we had eaten our rice. This was
our daily fare during the whole period of my
imprisonment.

Finding that these proceedings had no effect
in extracting bribes from us to procure milder
treatment—really because we had been deprived
of the few things we had about us immediately
after capture—others of a more painful nature
were employed. The tails of the Chinese were
drawn through staples in the wall, and fastened
so that the owners were unable to sit down,
being forced to remain in a standing posture
all night. In this position it was impossible
for them to sleep more than a few minutes
at a time, and, being fastened together, the
falling forward of one jerked several others
from their upright position, and caused acute
pain. It was natural that the sufferers should
desire to purchase exemption from these and
a hundred other cruelties more difficult to