inch cables of bamboo that were buoyed from one side of the river to the other. There was nothing now to prevent her going into position. She fired a single gun at the batteries on the south bank, evidently desiring to recognize the courtesy they had shown her, and then concentrated the force of her batteries on the northern forts, which she completely silenced in less than twenty minutes. Just as she had finished her work, two other French boats came up to assist her, but their help was not needed.
In the meanwhile, the Nimrod had followed close after the Cormorant, and opened a furious fire on the forts on the southern bank. Owing to her position she began her work before the Cormorant reached the duty assigned to her, and the Nimrod no doubt saved the Cormorant from several shots by drawing them in her own direction. For fully fifteen minutes these two steamers were engaging all the forts on the southern bank without any assistance. Very soon however, the four French gunboats came up, two of them instructed to support the Cormorant and the other two the Dragonne and the Avalanche. They were considerably hindered by the strong tide which was then running and by the sinuosities of the channel. The power of these boats was not sufficient for such work and they were decidedly clumsy in their movements, but as soon as they were in position they fired away very accurately at the forts. For fully an hour the Chinese retained their positions at their guns, better than the English officers had expected they would. Though not deficient in bravery, they were not skilled in artillery practice, as nearly all their shots passed high above the assailing ships. The French boats lost four ofificers killed and two men, probably due to the fact that the officers on the bridge or poop of the boat were more exposed than the men. The practice of the Chinese gunners does not make it easy to silence a battery. It is their habit after discharging a gun to retire into a bomb proof and await the enemy's return
