In consequence of this report it was decided by the various senior naval officers, at a conference on board the “Centurion,” that it was no use waiting until matters got worse, and that the Powers would therefore land brigades early next morning, and that the whole force under Sir Edward Seymour would try to push their way through to the aid of the beleaguered Legations. Amidst immense enthusiasm the sailors got ready for service, and the tugs belonging to the ‘Taku Tug and Lighter Company’ having been requisitioned, the force was landed at an early hour on the morning of the 10th. They left Tientsin on the same morning, and during the day more reinforcements were poured into the settlements from the now almost denuded fleet. On this date also fifty bluejackets were sent to Tongshan to protect the important railway works at that place. The work of the Naval Brigade was beginning. On the 11th, trade in the settlement practically ceased; once busy thoroughfares were now desolate, and a sort of hushed expectancy took the place of the usual busy stir in the town. Armed men, however, were at this time of more importance than any number of Chinese hawkers, and a valuable addition to the powers of resistance arrived in the person of Commander Beatty, D.S.O. and a hundred and fifty men, shortly followed by two “Maxims.” The day was spent in drawing up a more elaborate system of defence than had been thought necessary before, and an attempt was made to overawe the natives by a march round the suburbs. In the afternoon there occurred the first piece of official interference on the part of the Viceroy, who refused to allow a train to proceed up the line, which was packed with German troops. Now the Germans, when on active service, don’t understand this sort of treatment, and the disorderly mob which, as is usual on these occasions, quickly gathered, was swept out of the way by the display of fixed bayonets, backed by the evident intention of using them if needs be. On this display of force, the Viceroy no longer withheld his permission for the train to proceed, and the Germans reached their destination without further molestation. From this date communication practically ceased with the fleet, but 1770 Russians just managed to arrive in the nick of time, before ingress was finally barred.