[Illustration: A, Wires to catch side of ship. B, Lead weight. C, Jars of Gunpowder. D, Case with side broken away to show jars. E, Raft.] [Illustration: A, Can buoy containing powder. B, Box containing lighted match and punk below. C, Lid or slide between match and punk. D, String for pulling out slide, to allow match to ignite punk. VARIOUS CHINESE FLOATING MINES USED AGAINST H.M.S. _ENCOUNTER_] At the end of the 'fifties we were engaged in war with China for a considerable period, and the wily Celestials tried all sorts of dodges to blow up our ships by means of floating mines, or "infernal machines" as they were still called. They were ingenious apparatus, some of them. The following extracts from a letter written by an officer on board the _Encounter_, off Canton, give a good idea of the means employed. Three attempts were made to blow her up. [Illustration: Chinese Floating Mine One of two, tied together, with which an attempt was made to blow up H.M.S. _Encounter_.] "The first was a sampan", he writes, "towed by a canoe on 24th December, 1856, and captured close under the bow by our second gig rowing guard. The fuse was lighted in the bamboo tubes at the side. The second attempt was on the morning of 5th January, 1857, about 2.30. Two rafts, moored together, with about 20 fathom of line buoyed up, with hooks to catch cables or anything else, and, on the wires touching the ship's side, to break by the little lead weight the lighted fuse on the top of the bamboo, which communicated with the powder. These were lighted and all ready, but fortunately observed by our guard-boat and towed clear of ship. Being only a raft it was just awash, and in each caisson at least 17 cwt. of gunpowder in open tubs and jars. The raft itself was made of 6-inch plank well bound together, and caulked. The third attempt was on the morning of the 7th January, 1857, at 4.30. A pair of vessels in the shape of a can-buoy with a flag on the top, about 8 inches long; the fuse, with a tin box containing punk[56] over the fuse, then a cover with lighted match on top; this had a string to it, which, when pulled, drew out the centre partition and communicated the fire to the punk, to allow the fellows who swam off with them towards the ship to make their escape; but they got frightened at some stir with the boats, and by accident one went off with a fearful explosion on the starboard bow, about 60 yards, and the other, being deserted, floated down on our booms. One of the men was caught and brought on board here, and had his brains blown out at the port gangway. The buoy-shaped vessel was capable of holding about 10 cwt. of gunpowder." The _Encounter_ was afterwards attacked by two floating mines coupled together by a length of rope, each containing half a ton of powder. They were towed by a Chinaman in a small boat, who was shot by the look-outs and the mines destroyed. The _Niger_, however, had a small junk exploded alongside her which had, on