Lithographs of the 1st Opium War. In 1846 relations between the Chinese population and foreigners in Canton were at a low point. Riots broke out when a British merchant (Charles Compton) beat a Chinese fruit vendor and in the following year attacks on foreigners increased. In April 1847 John Davis, the Chief Superintendant of Trade, mounted a punitive expedition against Canton which destroyed all the principal forts at the Bogue. They were preparing to storm the city when the Chinese Commissioner Keying relented to British demands for free and secure access. "Under these circumstances, it became a matter of vital importance to teach the Chinese authorities and people that the British Government could redress its wrongs much more speedily than was imagined; and Sir John Davis found in General D'Aguilar and Captain McDougall two officers quite willing to undertake this service, even with the small amount of force immediately at their command." (descriptive text).