One of our men
caught a fine one the other day, which was bought and cooked for the
officers' mess, by which means we were all nearly destroyed--the fish
unfortunately happening to be of a poisonous nature; in consequence of
which a general order was issued the next day, forbidding the troops to
catch or eat any more fish. The country around the factory is beautiful;
but we deem it prudent to keep within the walls, as the Chinese are very
expert at picking up stragglers, whom they usually strangle. Beyond this
we cannot complain of our situation; fowls are extremely abundant, but I
have not seen any, the inhabitants having carried them up the country
along with their cattle and provisions of every description. The water
here is so brackish that it is almost impossible to drink it; there are,
however some wells of delicious water in the neighbourhood, which would be
a real treasure to us if the Chinese had not poisoned them.
Notwithstanding these unavoidable privations, the courage of our troops is
indomitable; a detachment of the ----th regiment succeeded last week in
taking possession of an island in the river, nearly half an acre in
extent; it has, however, since been deemed advisable to relinquish this
important conquest, owing to the muddy nature of the soil, into which
several of our brave fellows sank to the middle, and were with difficulty
extricated.
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