The Hong Kong, with her light draught, got within sight of the first division of junks before she, too, was brought abruptly to a standstill in the shallow water and Commodore Keppel could be seen entering his six-oared galley and waving to the other boats to cast off their tow-ropes and follow him. “Right, my boys, this is it,” Phillip sang out. “Out oars and give way together!” His crew needed no urging. Pulling with a will, they sent the heavy launch skimming through the water, making a race of it with the Starling’s pinnace. It was tiring work, with the sun now hot on their backs and a heavy fire of grape from a gun battery, masked by trees on shore, falling about them like rain. The first division of junks, numbering twenty or so, were moored in a compact line and positioned so as to bring the enfilading fire of their guns on the attacking force. They presented an awesome spectacle from the approaching boats, high, square-prowed craft painted in garish colours, each with an eye depicted on the headboards, their upper decks swarming with men and brass cannon bristling from their lower deck ports.
What do You think about Guns To The Far East (2005)?
