NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Black Flags, having been defeated in the stockaded villages round Sontay, evacuated the citadel on the 16th, and on the 17th Admiral Courbet took possession of the fortress. No further progress is reported, nor is it known whether ho will next attack Hong Hoa, as is most probable, or will proceed at once against Bacninh. It is reported that he lost 1,000 men in the original assault, but that the numbers originally given were those of Frenchmen, the Admiral either caring nothing for his native allies, or, as is more probable, regarding them as sol- diers of Anam, for whom he was not responsible. The Marquis Tseng has not demanded his passports, but is awaiting in England instructions from Pekin, where a summons has been issued to the Grand Council, consisting of the Imperial Princes and other notables. They may advocate war, but it is more pro- bable that they will advise a determined resistance, without any formal declaration of hostilities. In that event, the French Government will endeavour, through the Fleet, to seize some " material guarantee," possibly Canton, but possibly also the island of Hainan, without which their control of the Tonquin river system must be incomplete. Hainan, which is as large as Wales, and healthy, would then be their great maritime station. This is the probable origin of the preposterous reports that Hainan is to be ceded to the English.
