It is not too much to say that the British did practically all the fighting, and with the exception of the Germans and Americans, the other forces were hardly engaged. The men had been on the march for sixteen hours, twelve of which had been spent in fighting; they were without water to drink, and without time to eat, and even on their return the Pei-Ho was the only refreshment obtainable. Five hours’ rest (not for the whole force, for some had to go on picket duty—an arduous task for which some contingents had no great liking), was all that was vouchsafed to the weary men, and at one o’clock next morning the “Fall in” was sounded, and once more the column headed for Tientsin. By this time there was so little ammunition left for the field guns, that they were all placed in junks, and little enough room did it leave for the wounded, whose numbers had been nearly doubled by the previous day’s fighting. At 3 a.m. some firing took place in the immediate front, and the marines (British) came upon a Chinese outpost, who after the first few shots fled, leaving their rifles. They had been placed on the outskirts of a small Chinese town, which proved to be absolutely deserted. Sleepy and with empty stomachs, plodding along through the oppressing quietness where all should have been bustle and life, was a weird, uncanny experience. It is on such occasions, in the grey of the early morning, going to who knows what fate, with that awful feeling of expectancy hanging over every one that the nerves get distraught and the imagination, if allowed to wander, makes such jumpy creatures of the finest men; so it was with feelings of relief that the force once more found themselves in the open, and again marching along the river banks. On leaving the town, the head of the force was challenged from the other side of the river, from what in the puzzling light looked like a wood. An interpreter went forward, and explained that the force was friendly to the Chinese government, and desired nothing better than to be allowed to pass on into Tientsin peaceably. A conciliatory and satisfactory answer was given to this request, and the force was moving on, when suddenly a tremendous artillery and musketry fire was opened on them! Nothing but the darkness saved the head of the column from total annihilation. As it was, however, the force lay down and replied, as well as it was possible, to the tremendous fire from the opposite bank.