The junks with which the Nemesis was engaged in Anson's Bay were provided with quite a new sort of boarding-nettings, if they can be so called. Probably old Admiral Kwan, whose reputation as a seaman was not very great, had heard that English ships of war were sometimes provided with nets when going into action; and, therefore, without knowing very well what might be the purpose of them, he determined to have them likewise. But he made a sad mistake concerning the object for which they were intended. He very naturally thought, that, in the position which he had taken up in shallow water, only the boats of the squadron could come close to him, and he hit upon the bright notion of trying to _catch them_ with his nets, just as a poacher catches his sleeping game by throwing a net over them. A number of strong fishing-nets were fastened all round the sides of the junks, not extended so as to impede any one trying to get on board, but triced up outside over each of the guns, in such a way, that, when our boats should come alongside, the nets were to be thrown over them, men and all; and thus our jolly tars were to be caught like hares in their form, and handed over to the tender mercies of the emperor. No sooner, however, did the guns of the Nemesis open fire, than the nets were all forgotten in their fear of the shot and the rockets; and, long before the boats could get alongside, the defenders and men-catchers were glad to be off, to avoid being themselves caught. A more unwieldy-looking machine, or one less calculated for efficient service at sea, than the old-fashioned junks, can scarcely be conceived. Although, since the commencement of the war, they have gradually improved them very much in the fashion of the hull, the masts and sails, and all that appertains to the rigging of a vessel, are very little different from what they have hitherto been. It should be noticed, that the boats and smaller rigged vessels of the Chinese are generally very much superior to their large junks in form and convenience of arrangement, and often sail very well. The family to whom the boat belongs lives entirely on board, and, for the combined purposes for which their boats are generally used, perhaps no arrangement could be better adapted for making the most of a limited space; and they are, moreover, kept remarkably clean.