Page 104 - Christie's London China Trade Paintings Kelton Collection

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[FIRST OPIUM WAR]. Manuscript log of the steamer Nemesis, opening of Ningbo and closing of Calcutta [East
China Sea and elsewhere], 1 January 1842–28 February 1843.
c.195 written pages, 337 x 270mm, daily entries recording the date, location of the Nemesis, wind direction and
further ‘Remarks’ covering military manoeuvres, ship maintenance and the weather. Original reversed calf. [With:]
‘Nemesis in China’, commonplace book, c.1841-c.1844, chiefy containing transcripts from letters and other
documents from naval oficers and other oficials relating to the actions of HCS Nemesis in China, alongside
newspaper cuttings reporting the same.
The ship’s log of the Nemesis – or ‘devil ship’, as she was known in China during the First Opium War – the frst
British iron-clad warship. The log opens in January 1842, mid-way through the Nemesis’ active service in China
under Captain William Hutcheon Hall, with the steamer of the coast of Ningbo; after some small expeditions, the
frst signifcant action recorded in the manuscript comes at Taisam on 8 March, where the author sights ‘a feet
of large boats crowded with Chinese Troops with Banners fying’ and as the British forces draw near ‘the Chinese
troops who had all left the Junks ofered fre on them from […] Matchlocks’; the skirmish is won by the British,
‘upwards of 60 [Chinese troops] were killed and many severely wounded’, houses and junks were set alight and
prisoners taken, and a military chest containing a reported two thousand dollars was seized. The log continues,
tracking the movements of one of the most feared British vessels plying the seas during the First Opium War, frst
back to her base at Chusan and then onwards; she aided the British victory at the Battle of Chapu, witnessing ‘the
town of Chapoo being taken & the Gates garrisoned by our Troops; the Enemy having fed in all directions’ (18 May).
She later docks in Hong Kong (3 December 1842), Canton [Guangzhou] and Macau, before sailing for Singapore
and then Calcutta; after the First Opium War, the Nemesis was employed to suppress piracy in Indonesia and the
Philippines.
For a detailed account of the career of the Nemesis see Narrative of the voyages and services of the Nemesis, from
1840 to 1843 (London, 1844).
£1,500-2,500 US$1,900-3,100
€1,700-2,800

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