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 Tuesday, 8th. At last there is some news from China, but shockingly meagre and disappointing. A sort of blockade was established at Canton without knocking down any of the forts or doing anything that the Chinese would care about. Most of the fleet then went on to Chusan, to be out of the latitude of typhoons. To add to the flatness of all this the ‘Conway’ went on with the convoy to that eternal Chusan without coming within sight of land, so that there is no letter from. However, we heard that he was quite well.

Friday 11th. The Canton papers say that the Chinese have been poisoning the tea for our sailors, but that somehow the poisoned tea was taken by their own junks and drunk by themselves. There happens to be no truth in the story, but it is like a Chinese story. I feel a little pain in my stomach when I look at my tea now, and I advise you to taste yours gently.

Saturday, 12th. Captain is still ailing from the fever he had during the war, and is gone down to the