A cycle of Cathay, or, China, south and north . son, if sucha thing existed at Tient-sin, would far exceed thelicense of these barba-rian victors. This reminds me ofa beggarly present whichMr. Reed received fromthe gentry of Tientsin afew days ago. It con-sisted of two sheep, twojars of rice-wine, a few^cakes and fruits, witheight broad-brimmedstraw hats, one for him-self and one for each ofhis suite. The reason assigned for this complimentary offer-ing was that the American soldiers [a guard of a dozen ma-rines] had been so well commanded that the people had beenable to remain in quiet. June
A cycle of Cathay, or, China, south and north . son, if sucha thing existed at Tient-sin, would far exceed thelicense of these barba-rian victors. This reminds me ofa beggarly present whichMr. Reed received fromthe gentry of Tientsin afew days ago. It con-sisted of two sheep, twojars of rice-wine, a few^cakes and fruits, witheight broad-brimmedstraw hats, one for him-self and one for each ofhis suite. The reason assigned for this complimentary offer-ing was that the American soldiers [a guard of a dozen ma-rines] had been so well commanded that the people had beenable to remain in quiet. June 12th. Paid a visit to the kung-kwan (hotel) of theChinese plenipotentiaries, which was equally unexpected bythem and unintended by us. The circumstances were these: Mr. Reeds colored valet and a Chinese servant of CaptainDupont were walking near the city wall, when they were as-saulted by a mob. The latter was dragged away, but theformer succeeded in escaping with the loss of some of hisclothing. Fearing the poor boy might be torn to pieces by. WINE FOR THE MINISTER. 178 A CYCLE OF CATHAY the populace, Captain Dupont ordered his handful of marinesto seize their arms, and sallied forth at their head, determined,if possible, to effect a rescue. I accompanied the gallantcaptain, as without some one through whom to communicatethe Chinese would have been at a loss to understand the ob-ject of this demonstration. A quick march of a mile broughtus to the neighborhood where the assault was said to havetaken place, but we could hear no tidings of the missing in front of a large building which was evidently anofficial residence, it occurred to us to inquire there ; for whoso likely as the mandarins to be acquainted with the circum-stances of a street riot ? Approaching the door, a whole cohort of mandarins of thelower grades made their appearance. They had heard of thedisturbance, and, promising that the boy should be immedi-ately restored, begged us to go back. With this req
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