The foreign community thought to propitiate the 'Kin-Chae,' after the receipt by them of his '_unalterable_' commands, by offering to give up a _certain_ quantity. This had been suggested by the Hong merchants, who, no more than ourselves, supposed the 'Kin-Chae' to be serious in insisting upon _all_ that was held. A meeting was therefore convened in the Danish Hong, on the night of March 21, at which nearly everyone was present, as were also the Hong merchants, who assembled in an adjoining room. They were as anxious as we were to avert the threatened troubles, should the 'Kin-Chae' not listen to 'reason,' as they expressed it. In fact, throughout, while we were prisoners in the Factories, as will be seen, for six weeks, under threat of death and constant, unheard-of pressure, they did what they could to alleviate our condition through appeals to the 'authorities of the City.' All this was done with very great risk to themselves. Their presence at the meeting was from a desire to know the decision to which it might come, that they could report it to the 'Kin-Chae' as quickly as possible, and, in fact, we saw by his reply that it had been made known to him between five and seven on the morning of the 22nd. An hour or two before the meeting, Houqua made his appearance at our office, and requested Mr. Green, the then chief, to add 150 chests of opium to the quantity he intended to offer on behalf of Russell & Co. to the general subscription, for which he himself would pay. The cost of these chests would have been $105,000! The gentlemen present at the meeting, on behalf of their firms subscribed 1,034 chests in all, of the value of $725,000. These were offered to the 'Kin-Chae,' but disdainfully refused. All communication with the shipping at Whampoa was then cut off; quantities of soldiers collected near the Factories, as well as on the river, while several days before, all the gates opening to the rear of the Factories had been bricked up.