Page:Chinese account of the Opium war (IA chineseaccountof00parkrich).pdf/80

 NIU KIEN fled to Kia-ting city, and the castornmost fort was also abandoned; so that Pao-shan city, with a vast amount of war materiel, fell into the enemy's hands; to the great consternation of Shanghai, which place was at once abandoned by both the civil and military authorities, who fled to Sung-kiang. The Fu Kien marines thereupon became bandits, and took to burning and plundering. On the 19th eight or nine foreign ships came up to Shanghai, but that city was already deserted. Two days later, the foreigners took two steam-launches and four or five sampans up to a point near Sung-kiang, where they opposed by 2,000 Shen Si and Kan Suh soldiers, and retired after a protracted fusillade on both sides, repeating the operation with the same results the next day; so that Sung-kiang escaped. The pirates next made a reconnaissance towards Soochow; but their launches were piloted by our fishermen on to the shallows, and had to go back. On the 23rd the ships withdrew to Wusung, intend- ing to enter the Yangtsze. On the 18th of July they were off Kwa Chou; but, finding that city deserted, they turned to Chinkiang on the opposite side. HAILING, the Assistant Tartar-General over the Manchu garrison there, was an imbecile creature,