July 8. Sunday. The Chinese on the wall moved up their arms and opened fire on our barricade. The third shot they fired was badly aimed and struck their own barricade, carrying most of it away, when they were forced to retreat in a hurry. There was a fire at the Su Wang Fu of the main pavilion buildings, but it was not very serious. Two shells from a gun to the west struck the wall, and one the top of Mr. Coburn’s house, showing that the Chinese are getting the range. The evening fusillade started at 9:45 and lasted about twenty minutes. July 9. In the morning Mr. Squiers sent out a man into the city to see what was going on there. He returned in the afternoon reporting, first, that Hatamen has been closed for many days; second, that there are no Chinese troops in the southern city; third, that Rung Lu’s troops are guarding the Chihaumen, but there are many Kansu men on the Hatamen streets and in the imperial city; fourth, that at the ssupailou (four arches) the shops are open and doing business as usual; fifth, that the Emperor and Empress Dowager are still in the city; sixth, that the Peking “Gazette” is published daily. The day was quiet except for occasional firing. July 10. In the morning several of the Chinese shells came very close, breaking right over the tennis court, and making it unsafe for any one to cross. July 11. A messenger sent out with a letter tried to get through the water-gate, but was immediately fired on by the Chinese sentries and forced to fly. He got in without being hurt. The Chinese were extremely quiet all night, but the cause was not known until the next morning, when it was discovered that they had built two new big walls, one in the Hanlin Yuan, and another in the imperial carriage park. [Illustration: Part of Author’s Diary] July 12. The Chinese kept up a heavy cannonade all day, mostly from the guns on the imperial city wall, but did very little damage to us. A flag, white ground and black characters, was captured by the French in the morning, and in the afternoon Mitchell captured a big black one in the Hanlin Yuan. He got up on a Chinese barrier and wrested the flag from a Chinese soldier by pounding him with sand-bags until he let go, while five or six volleys were fired at him. He secured the flag and got down without a scratch. July 13. A Chinese prisoner taken by the French marines this morning states that the Emperor and Empress Dowager are still in the palace here. Prince Tuan, Jung Lee and General Tung are in control of public affairs. Prince Ching takes no part in them. Many Boxers are still in the city. Their principal patron is Prince Tuan. In his palace they are registered, fed, and paid. These Boxers are ridiculed by the soldiers because they dare not go under fire at the front, in spite of their pretensions to be bullet-proof.