to be secured. The wretched gunnery of the Chinese hurt no one. Their guns and powder must have been good, from the distance they carried, but not being fitted for elevation and depression, all their shots were too high to have any effect except on the spars and rigging.
As soon as the news of the battle of Chuenpi reached the Chinese army encamped at Tsimshatsui, the shore batteries opened fire (November 6, 1839) upon the merchant ships anchored in Hongkong harbour, keeping up a rambling cannonade for several days. There is a statement in the Chinese Annals that, in November, 1839, the English unsuccessfully attacked the fort north of Tsimshatsui, but that, as the wells had been poisoned, and they feared a night attack, they made off to their ships again. There is no evidence for the correctness of this statement. Owing, however, to the above-mentioned cannonade, the commanders of the merchant ships resolved to yield to Elliot's previous demands and removed the ships to Tungku. Hongkong was once more deserted.
Ever since British merchants were excluded by Commissioner Lin from any direct share in the trade conducted at Macao and especially since his failure to induce them to resort to Chuenpi, and whilst Elliot prohibited their returning to Canton or Whampoa, a great deal of freighting business had been going on by means of trans-shipment of British cargoes to and from American and other foreign vessels. The anxiety of British shipowners and consignees to clear their vessels caused them to chafe under the restraints imposed upon them by the deadlock of understanding between Lin and Elliot. Only one English ship, the Royal Saxon (Captain Town), followed the bad example set by Captain Warner. But as the animosity of Lin extended only to loyal British merchants and ships, whilst the ships of other foreign nationalities were treated by Lin as neutrals and rather favoured because they signed the bond which Elliot so abhorred, a great demand arose for neutral ships, under the benefit of the bond, to carry cargo to and fro between the port of Whampoa and British ships at Hongkong or Tungku.
