2-979-024 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Chinese Passage Boats, near Canton, 1857. Second Opium War. 'The Admiral...next proceeded to destroy the junks of war and a fortification situated below the city, called French Folly. The Chinese soldiers here showed an unexpected resistance, firing and reloading their guns with much determination; the junks, however, were speedily burned, and the fort carried by assault. A considerable force then proceeded to attack the Bogue forts, so celebrated in the history of our dealings with China, and for the fourth time during the last few years...these forts have been silenced and dismantled. In this state the matter rests; all trade, of course, is at an end, our factories deserted, and the traffic on the river effectually stopped'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.