stead of a
peaceful march on Pekin--will keep me longer here, because I cannot
send for Frederick till peace is made; and I cannot, I suppose, leave
Pekin till he arrives there.

_Sunday, September 9th._--Kweiliang and Co. wanted very much to call
on me yesterday, but I would not receive them. The junior
Commissioner, who was at Canton with Parkes, and knows him well, told
him that, in fact, the people here had been urging them to make an
effort to prevent war, saying: 'If we were sure that the foreigners
would have the best of it, we should not care; but if they are worsted
they will fall back on us, and wreak their vengeance upon us.' This
does not seem a very formidable state of mind as far as we are
concerned. We have behaved well to the people, except at Peytang and
Sinho, and the consequence is that we can move through the country
with comparative ease. If the people tried to cut off our baggage, and
refused us supplies, we should find it very difficult to get on. ...
_Noon_.--I have just returned from a service on board the 'Granada,'
where the clergyman administered the sacrament to a small
congregation. At four we march to the wars; but as I go to bear the
olive, it is not so bad a Sunday's work. You may very likely hear
through Siberia of the result of our march before you receive this
letter announcing that it is to take place. I shall not, therefore,
speculate upon it.

_Yang-tsun, about twenty miles above Tientsin.--September 10th.--Two
P.M._--This morning we started at about five, and reached this
encampment soon after seven. A very nice ride, cool, and through a
succession of crops of millet; a stiff, reedy stem, some twelve or
fourteen feet high, with a tuft on the top, is the physiognomy of the
millet stalk. It would puzzle the Tartar cavalry to charge us through
this crop. As it is, we have seen no enemy; and Mr. Parkes has induced
the inhabitants to sell us a good many sheep and oxen. Our tents were
not pitched till near noon; so I sat during most of the forenoon under
the shade of a hedge. There has been thunder since, and a considerable
fall of rain. I hope it will not make the roads impassable; but if it
fills the river a little it will do us good, for we may then use it
for the transport of our supplies, and it is now too low. We do not
know much what is