2-995-599 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Tien-Tsin, on the banks of the Peiho River, 1860. The British in China. 'Small vessels only can approach the mouth of the Peiho River. Large ships are obliged to anchor just in sight of the low shores through which it flows into the sea of Pecheli. There is also a bar at the entrance, which can only be crossed by gun-boats at high tide. The forts which we took in 1858, and upon which, reconstructed by the Chinese, we suffered so severe a defeat in 1859, are just inside the entrance, within range of heavy guns from outside the bar...It is said three thousand junks ascend the river in the month of June, loaded with grain for the consumption of Pekin...Tien-Tsin is about seventy miles from the mouth of the river, as miserable in appearance as most Chinese cities. The walls are in bad repair. No guns were mounted on them in 1858, The suburb, as usual in China, is in a far more flourishing condition than the town within the walls. It is situated on a large plain dotted with villages, through which a fine road leads to Pekin. Apricots and other fruits are plentiful, and the vineyards are trained prettily in arches...At Tien-Tsin the Grand Canal, or more properly its continuation, the Eu-ho River, falls into the Peiho'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.