CAUGHT BY BRIGANDS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 156, 30 December 1925, Page 3

CAUGHT BY BRIGANDS

MISSIONARIES' ADVENTURES IN

CHINA

BANSOMED AFTER TWENTY

DAYS,

Yell! Bang! Bang! Tell! Such were the sounds that awakened us at daylight on 6th August. It did not take a moment to realise that we were the objects of an attack by Chinese brigands, writes Miss M. Armfield, in a dispatch from Szcchuan,- West China, to the Melbourne "Argus," after her release front captivity. We.were a party of Church Missionary Society missionaries, eight' in number, and one little child of two and a half years. We were spending the hottest, weeks of the summer in a quiet, peaceful valley, removed, so we hoped, from the student troubles of the. cities, and the robbers of the country markets. We were only 10 miles from, one of China's walled inland towns, but there fear and trouble reigned, for robbers had ■ succeeded one fine morning in killing the 'guard at the gate and rushing in and looting the city. The Magistrate had fled, and all was confusion, so it seemed better that we should remain in our quiet valley, and hope to be left unmolested. Then a party of robbers 'looking around- for more mischief heard of us, and thought it a good chance" to pay us a surprise visit. Hence, the yells and the bangs, which continued for some minutes. There, was no chance to escape, 1 so,-keeping as ■ calm as possible, we waited for them to burst in. In a few minutes they came tearing up the stairs, yelling and shouting at the top of their voices, and .-making enough noise to, take an. army. We knew that in spite of the noise, their object, would be to rob,.and wo,bcn,t< alt bur energies to calming their cxJ citement. The louder itltey yelled, the more' calmly we told; them toc.ease, but there is no-resisting a man with a gun, so when'.they said; "You must come with us, "we sadly but quickly complied wjith their request. Jt did not take .many minutes.;to. marshal the party, and we'went across- the small river which divided oiir- homes' from the road winding'up the valley to '« market, about'lo miles distant. ,"-.'•

Once across .the river; we were al-lowed':-'t& bait, ancL.we'; tpik-'the -opI poTtunity to look a ; t our., :captors; ' There were about 20. of them, and they were. alV'.arjnod with;'rifles, .revolvers, or pije^s. ■ As they, ran out of our houses weidwthat they had already, hunted.through ,biir ppssfcss'ipns. for valuables. They T were t adorned with cameras, necklaces, and anything else, they had fancied.. On their heads they wore :pur hats,/and Abejr. pockets bulged with' clocks and watches, j and by way of'helping'the coolies remove our goods they had snatched up the clothes hanging in our rooms aud hung thorn, eh their'pikes; The *coolies they.;Used-wore masons, who. were building for us, and: whoj like, their employers, had been asleep at the timeof the attack. Most of our servants had managed* to escape and hide on the mountain) though two were captured and made to- accompany-us. As the excitement subsided our captors became /quite ' friendly, so we asked them what they expected to make out of us, and they said: "We are not going to hurt 3'ou, and we have brought all your things for you to use, we only want some guns, and 20,000 dollars." "Only 20,000 dollars!" we said. "You • won't get that, for' we have not got it, and if anything happens .to us, ,you are more likely to have to pay the 20,000 dollars.'' Nothing daunted, they replied, - "We won't hurt you, but we want }' that money." ' ' «.

It was reassuring to know that they would nothurt us, but it was with slow and unwilling feet we followed their lead, lip the mountain, along narrow rough' paths, down water gullies, ever winding in and out by small unusued paths, and avoiding the-pro-per road. - We had nothing to eat, except some dry bread, and we slake/J our. thirst at .mountain streams. At dark we/arrived at an ,ojd ruined fortress. Our guides, wished us to go further to a farmhouse, where some food was ■prepared,'l.lit w.c went on-strike, and refused to go,any further. Into the fortress we went, where wo found what remained of our goods, piled in confusionin. one big room. There wag nothing to eat, and it was impossible to sort out our belongings or find anything to use. Strangest touch of all. the robbers were genuinely troubled. They lit a fire, and boiled some water. They brought us their corn bread and salt pork, but after such an exciting day we could aot eat, so they sent our servant and three of their men back to. our hous'es to bring a supply of food and cooking ■ utensils/ Then, like true prisoners, fed on dry bread and water, we laid, ourselves down, but not to sleep. Four of, us and the baby were packed on' the. back; of a cupboard, which: was. turned/ face downward on the ground. .The men of the party lay on the ground, and a robber was posted outside the door. The cows (our cows) munched grass all night outside, and the mosquitoes buzzed, aad. bit inside. Altogether our sleep' was not very successful,arid we hailed the daylight with some degree of pleasure. This, was considerably increased by the appearance of the cook, and the robbers who had gone ivith him, bear: ing the materials for breakfast. -.'We; could even, smile on our .captors, with the prospect.of breakfast so near, and Boon foujid.out,how to,do with a minimum supply of forks and spoons and otiier .necessaries. For the next 20 days'we wandered with our captors> The scenery was bfeautiful, and the people where we were lodged • friendly and kind. W* became adepts at finding something to sleep on, aud scrying dinner to eight hungry people from ono small fowl aud a few odds and ends. We learned to look upon a tooth JJrush', or a nail to open' a tin of milk,' as- our most cherished possession. We were-moved every, few days,"which, though it was uncomfortable to mcive one's lodgings so often, gave us plenty of change, and kept us from feeling the monotony of waiting for release." On these red-letter days we were allowed to receive food,' papers, and letters from friends. • What .'a; pleasure- it was? on. j one of these occasions'-to receive, an Australia/i paper. Well, everything, even: a; trip with I Chinese brigands,' has a'V end.. It was with much relief we heard that negotiations had been' completed, and we were to be released. With pur goods reduced to dirty ;bundles, tied- in sheets, and looking eomewhat wild and unkempt, we started off on our homeward way. The Chinese, officials [had sent" messengers tnd a guard to escort us home; They had also^ paid the ransom money,. which was only 2600 dollars • for the whole party, so the robbers fell far short of their 20.000 doU«n.. O-thr joy o« that | home-cojunf! gojr gici it wi# to pit

down to a proper meal, at a eleaa table,, and to sleep in a proper bed. The people lined the streets to see us return, and they were all genuinely pleased and immensely relieved to see us back safe.and sound. ■

The members of our party were:— Bishop and-. Mrs. Mowel, the Bey. V. H. and Mrs. Donnithorne and their child. Audrey, Major, lies, and the Misses A. Settle, C. Carleton, and M. Armfield. ■ • ......