remaining behind in consequence of Lord Elgin's fear that the presence of the diplomats might complicate matters in case the admirals were obliged to use force in reaching Tien-Tsin. The river was crowded with junks, and the steamers had some difficulty in forcing their way through this floating barrier, but they managed to do so without accident. After a few miles, a line of junks was found stretching across the river and forming a regular barrier which it did not take long to remove. Other barriers of the same sort were encountered, and small groups of cavalry came down to observe the strange vessels propelled by steam, which for the first time were making the ascent of the Peiho. When fired upon the cavalry invariably scampered away; no forts were visible on this part of the river, and the people did not seem inclined to show any hostility.
On learning of the arrival of the allied fleet at Tien-Tsin the Pekin government at once determined to send ambassadors to treat for peace, and on the 29th May the plenipotentiaries, French and English, started from Takoo to Tien-Tsin where they were to meet the Chinese representative. The negotiations consumed a month, the Chinese using every artifice to secure delay and modify the condition which the foreigners were forcing upon them, while the latter, knowing their strength, were disinclined to recede from their demands. The Chinese commissioner, Keying, said that the foreigners were holding a knife at the throat of China and compelling her to do something that was totally foreign to her wishes. While the ambassadors would not admit the truth of this assertion, they could hardly deny the fact except in a diplomatic sense. Lord Elgin's diary shows that his private opinion on this subject was materially different from the one he professed in public. Personally he had a great deal of sympathy for the Chinese, but ofificially he could do nothing else than carry out the orders of his sovereign.
