Up to this time, however, the Chinese had made no attempt to cut the river communications, and guns and troops were steadily being landed at Taku and sent up to the front by tugs and lighters. On the 30th the Governor-General of Port Arthur arrived, in the person of Vice-Admiral Alexieff, so that Tientsin was beginning to reach the unenviable state of having so many commanding officers of the same rank, that it was always uncertain how the various necessary dispositions of one force would be received by the others; in fact it was a case of the proverbial “too many cooks, etc.” About this time, the enemy received large reinforcements, matters looked very serious again, and martial law was proclaimed. On July 2nd, the British headquarter barracks “Barfleur” had an extremely narrow escape from fire. The ‘godown’ next door caught alight in some unaccountable manner, and burned with the utmost fury, causing great anxiety for the safety of the food and ammunition in the barracks. It was a miserably wet day, and the men could procure practically no appliances to get it under, but although the barrack roof and shutters caught fire and smouldered, the excellent work done by all hands saved the building, and in three or four hours the ‘godown’ burnt itself out. The flames had not been in progress for ten minutes before it became quite evident what were the contents of the house; thick streams of boiling sugar poured out of the windows, doors, and every crevice in the wall, until at last the bund in front of the barracks, and the spacious yard behind, were veritable ponds of molasses, about a foot deep. An attempt was made to clear up the mess made by the still warm mixture, but it proved abortive, so much so that an unwary company of little Japs got literally stuck in it, looking for all the world like so many flies on a fly-paper. In the evening Midshipman Donaldson died of his wounds, two in number, which he received in his first engagement. He had been shot in the neck, and again through the right lung, the latter proving fatal at the commencement of the rainy season, which had been expected for a week or so. On the 3rd, matters took a turn for the worse, and the enemy became more pressing in their attacks, and more steady in their bombardment. The fighting at the station was constant and severe, and had it not been for the reinforcements, it looked as if the defence must have been worn down under the incessant strain. The women and children all went down to Taku by command of Admiral Seymour, except a few who elected to continue their work of mercy in the hospitals, and who were allowed to remain.