gust, 1876, and on the 2nd
of September the Chinese sat down before the fortifications of Manas, a
much more strongly situated city, and defended with the whole force of
the Tungan people. The first panic at the appearance of the Chinese had
passed off, and the defenders of Manas recognized that they were not
only fighting for their cause and independence, but also for their lives
and the honour of their families. The terrible lesson of Urumtsi was not
without its effect upon the resolute but despairing garrison of Manas.
The capture of Urumtsi was a creditable performance in a military sense,
but the campaign had to be decided before the ramparts of Manas. On the
2nd of September the Chinese batteries commenced to play on the
north-east portion of the wall, and for two months the bombardment was
carried on on all sides with more or less vigour. Several assaults were
repulsed, and the Tungani, in face of superior odds and weapons, had
behaved like brave men. But the Chinese were as persistent in their
attack after an eight weeks' siege as they had been on the first day of
their arrival, and the provisions of the Tungani were almost exhausted.
With their supplies ebbed also their courage, and, after an unsuccessful
sortie, the Tungan general, Hai-Yen, presented himself to the Chinese
outposts begging to be accorded an honourable capitulation. Ostensibly,
terms were granted--or, rather, to put the matter as it is expressed in
the official Chinese report, everything was left vague--and on the 6th
of November Hai-Yen and the main body of his fighting men came forth
from the city towards the Chinese camp. The subsequent events are not
clear, but it seems that the attitude of this body was suspicious. The
men were armed, they were in a well-ordered phalanx, and to the Chinese
on the hills around it looked as if they were about to attempt to cut
their way through. Once the Chinese generals entertained the suspicion,
they proceeded to act promptly upon it, as if it were an incontestable
fact, and the Tungani, attacked from all sides, by artillery, horse,
and foot, were in a short time annihilated. Such of their chiefs as were
not slain were brought before the Chinese generals, and forthwith
executed "with the extreme of torture." Every able-bodied man found in
the city or its vicinity was massacred; but the report distinctly states
that the women, children, and old men were spared, and there is no
reason to doubt the veracity of