as the
piece went off; his disheartened crew concluded it was all over with
him. But Paou was quick eyed. He had seen the unfriendly intention of
the mandarin, and thrown himself down. The Great Mandarin was soon after
taken with fifteen junks; three were sunk. The pirate lieutenant would
have dealt mercifully with him, but the fierce old man suddenly seized
him by the hair on the crown of his head, and grinned at him, so that he
might provoke him to slay him. But even then Paou spoke kindly to him.
Upon this he committed suicide, being seventy years of age.

After several victories and reverses, the Chinese historian says our
men-of-war escorting some merchant ships, happened to meet the pirate
chief nicknamed "The Jewel of the Crew" cruising at sea. The traders
became exceedingly frightened, but our commander said,--This not being
the flag of the widow Ching-yih, we are a match for them, therefore we
will attack and conquer them. Then ensued a battle; they attacked each
other with guns and stones, and many people were killed and wounded. The
fighting ceased towards evening, and began again next morning. The
pirates and the men-of-war were very close to each other, and they
boasted mutually about their strength and valor. The traders remained at
some distance; they saw the pirates mixing gunpowder in their
beverage,--they looked instantly red about the face and the eyes, and
then fought desperately. This fighting continued three days and nights
incessantly; at last, becoming tired on both sides, they separated.

To understand this inglorious bulletin, the reader must remember that
many of the combatants only handled bows and arrows, and pelted stones,
and that Chinese powder and guns are both exceedingly bad. The pathos
of the conclusion does somewhat remind one of the Irishman's despatch
during the American war,--"It was a bloody battle while it lasted; and
the searjent of marines lost his cartouche box."

The Admiral Ting River was sent to sea against them. This man was
surprised at anchor by the ever vigilant Paou, to whom many fishermen
and other people on the coast, must have acted as friendly spies. Seeing
escape impossible, and that his officers stood pale and inactive by the
flag-staff, the Admiral conjured them, by their fathers and mothers,
their wives and children, and by the hopes of brilliant reward if they
succeeded, and of vengeance if they perished, to do their duty, and the
combat began. The Admiral