Show correspondence ol 01 the tho london times expedition to china tinn TIEN SIN june 4 1 I 1 tb the e d day ay following the capture of the forts of zung tung koo oo 00 at the mouth of the pinho river described in in my last letter was occupied by the allied naval navai command era in chief chiet in demolishing the forts getting off the guns and securing our position A line of junks moored across the river at the village tako gako 0 about three miles from tungfoo Tung koo keo served admirably as a barricade a against ainest fire rafts should the chinese resort to that favorite mode of attack be bei bellind lind these our advanced gunboats gun boats were anchored it had been intimated to the chinese authorities that the capture of the forts by force in in th the e event of their not being peaceably surrendered was not intended by the allied government to imply a hostile attitude on their part iowa lowa towards rde the imperial government but was to be re regarded as a preliminary measure relar dred necessary to secure the safety of the ambassadors bass adors who choin in consequence of the refusal of the cabinet of pekin to treat with them at A a distance had determined to proceed to tien sin with the view of putting then themselves selves more immediately into communication with the high functionaries function aries of the empire indeed the position of tien sin sm at the junction of the grand canal and river its proximity to pekin and its ij importance ris ili to the capital in a mercantile point of view all combined fo to induce the belief beliet that at no city in the empire with the exception perhaps of pekin itself can negotiations tiati ons be carried on under more favorable conditions the first duty of the naval authorities therefore after the taking 11 of the forts foris was to proceed oil on the exploration of the river for the purpose of opening the way and se securing curinga a safe transit for the allied missions to tien sin As they I 1 anticipated every description of natural a and nd artificial obstruction and conceived that the chinese would offer a most violent resistance to their progress they advanced at first but slowly As they proceeded however it became apparent that these fears ware wore groundless the river rn er winding through a flat alluvial country with richly cultivated and partially arti artl ally aily wooded banks had an average C breadth of oi about two hundred yards with a depth of water at half tide ranging from ten feet to forty villages tvete ivete were numerous and consisted sted merely of a collection of mud huts such as grace the banks of the nile so far from the inhabitants attempting to oppose the progress of the allies or showing signs of distrust much less of active bostl bosti hostility lity they collected in crowds upon the banks prostrating pro themselves with their foreheads to the aroun ground as the first gunboats gun Fun boats passed and staring at those following with an expression of countenance peculiar to the race in which the most listless apathy abath is combined with the extreme of wonder M and awe the shore was occasionally lined with ahse curious spectators who aa as the they invariably adopt a squatting attitude look ivok looked edUe like ilke rows of penguins gazing for the first time upon seme some intrepid arctic explorer it was the first time that the devil ship I 1 of the b barbarians arb arians had bad disturbed the muddy waters wavers of or that the agitated pant of a 60 horse horig power steam stearn bad aroused from noonday noon day siesta the placid ill irl inhabitants hibi hibl apts of its banks but did not cont content themselves ii selves with gaad ga at or worship ing ng be god of steam rega regarding it as the pre cursor graor of a power destined to overthrow the pr present besent dynasty and raise itself upon its ruins they aced faced the decrees of fate in a spirit worthy a nation which has preserved its existence throughout changing dynasties for countless ages and with cries of hail great king v elcome welcome oh king come thou and aud reign over ower us and be our Ernp emperor eror they brought cattle alid aud poultry and vegetables down at as ap presents resents the pioneer of european civilization in china would f fare are badly if he acted on tile the prin caple capie of timeo dandos on the of may the staunch and bustard leading gunboats gun boats containing the marines and small sim arm men of the tho pique and furious under captains sir frederick and sherard osborn sight sigbe ed tien sin and the following day thea the admirals ami i T als alq in in their respective i ve ships Co romandel and ave lanche anchored e a 0 opposite the town their success hitherto had so far exceeded their most sanguine expectations that they pushed on beyond tien sin sm towards Toong chaw the port of begin and distant only ten mites miles from that city the larger gunboats gun boats were brought to a a standstill ill lil very shortly after leaving ti tien ien len sini bin sin but the th hestral Ke of 40 horse power with the ships boats in tow succeeded in in reaching a villa village 1 e about 8 miles above this town meantime other gunboats gun boats were employed clearing the junks out of the river between tien sin and the mouth so as to render it impossible for the chinese chines to bar our egress by sinking junks the crowd of these making their escape lri in obedience to orders was sometimes so V great as to cause as hopeless a jam ap a may occasionally be seen inside temple bar thus was accomplished in a few days and without the slightest difficulty an operation which the french admiral had Alec declared lared impossible unless supported bealand by a land force of men and which might have been as successfully undertaken a month sooner had not hot obstacles existed of a far graver graier character than iny ink any which the chinese have it in their power to interpose at this time of year the loss of that month the finest in the year is most deeply to be re rei ref f fretted gret ted already we havekost have most disagreeable evidence of the proximity and pr probable temperature of a pekin summer As soon as the ambassadors were made aware of the complete success of the admirals admiral 8 t they hy determined to follow them to tien sin in in pursuance of their ori orl original intentions and reached that city on llie the morning of the of gif may A spacious temple occasionally used as a residence by a former emperor commanding a view of the river at its unction junction with the thie Grand canal and opposite te thi the e city was appropriated forthe for the accommodation of the french and english ambassadors numbers of chinese servants were in attendance 7 many of the rooms had been newly papered and the work of furnishing up was going on briskly baron gros grog and lord elgin 6 occupy two light ight and airy pavil pavli pavilions logs lops on the summit ot a mound ascended by a pathway of ornamental rockwork their respective staffs are scattered in iry sundry fragile buildings of quaint construction with paper walls or have made their bedrooms in a joss house in which goda gods and goddesses are the principle articles of furniture A spacious garden gardens enclosed by a wall surrounds the whole english and french guards occupy the out houses and stand sentry at the principal entrances the national flag floats proudly over all and a line of gunboats gun boats are moored within twenty yards of the windows these consist at present of the coromandel romandel Co cormorant slaney and opossum english the avalanche fusee and Dragonne french the staunch bustard and kestrel are anchored a mile above the town and the leven woodcock and firm are somewhere between this and the fleet the woodcock and kestrel both forty horbe horse power arr arrived iveda a few days after the capture of tungfoo Tung koo A party of engineers have also aiso arrived from hong horig m kong in the sampson and are engaged in bi blowing 0 v in up the forts after which it is a espee expected ted ab ahey e will ili ill come here numerous a anford afford f fd abundant barrack barra cir clr accommodation notwithstanding the great variation in the tempera temperature tur egal ernt the be thermometer ranges from 65 deg to deg eg in the twenty four hours the health of the men continues excelle excellent nf supplies es are abundant although some little reluctance has been app 1 rent on the part of the country people lately in bringing them in through fear of incur nug the displeasure of the authorities ice lee is a luxury in which the chinese upper classes freely indulge during the summer montes boats and coolies carrying large blocks of it are constantly seen passing to and fro and the barbarians have not been slow to avail themselves of so refreshing 0 an article of eon boh consumption the interior of the eity city hag bag been explored but offers few attractions to the stranger the streets are broader than those in southern blues citi esthe bouse house and the curiosity shops not to be discovered at all |