2-979-023 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Chinese soldiers, 1857. Second Opium War. 'It appears that a lorcha, named the Arrow, trading on the coast, had anchored off Canton somewhere at the beginning of last October. She was duly registered, was protected by the English flag, and commanded by an English captain. The authorities in the city of Canton having been informed, however, that on board this lorcha were one or two Chinamen who had been formerly engaged in piracy or rebellion, sent a force on board her, who seized the twelve Chinese men composing her crew, and at the same time hauled down the English ensign flying at the peak'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.