In This Captain Elliot Announced That "Her Majesty's
Flag Does Not Fly In The Protection Of A Traffic Declared Illegal
By the
emperor, and, therefore, whenever a vessel is suspected of having opium on
board Captain Elliot will take care
That the officers of his establishment
shall accompany the Chinese officers in their search, and that if, after
strict investigation, opium shall be found, he will offer no objection to
the seizure and confiscation of the cargo."
The British expedition arrived at the mouth of the Canton River in the
month of June, 1840. It consisted of 4,000 troops on board twenty-five
transports, with a convoy of fifteen men-of-war. If it was thought that
this considerable force would attain its objects without fighting and
merely by making a demonstration, the expectation was rudely disappointed.
The reply of Commissioner Lin was to place a reward on the person of all
Englishmen, and to offer $20,000 for the destruction of an English man-of-
war. The English fleet replied to this hostile step by instituting a close
blockade at the mouth of the river, which was not an ineffectual retort.
Sir Gordon Bremer, the commander of the first part of the expedition, came
promptly to the decision that it would be well to extend the sphere of his
operations, and he accordingly sailed northward with a portion of his
force to occupy the island of Chusan, which had witnessed some of the
earliest operations of the East India Company two centuries before.
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