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HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE
depressed and the Grant-in-Aid was increased, but not to its original figure. Lockhart had received the administration of a territory that could never be a great financial success.
Except for two periods of leave, in 1909 and 1918, and short absences from the Territory, such as ceremonial visits to the Chinese Governor of Shangtung at Tsinan, Lockhart was continuously in charge for nearly nineteen years. Weihaiwei was an extremely healthy place, free of malaria, with a climate like that of a northern European country and Lockhart was able to indulge in the recreations he loved most. He rode nearly every day or played a round of golf on the mainland on Yuan Shih-k'ai's parade ground. The dedication to Lockhart of Johnston's book, Lion and Dragon in Northern China, reads: 'In memory of two moonlit nights at Lutao-k'uo, five frosty mornings at Pei-K'uo Temple and a hundred breezy gallops over the hills and sands of Weihaiwei.'
In 1904, Johnston, then Acting Assistant Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, had been appointed to Weihaiwei and the two men, who had worked together previously in Hong Kong, soon became close friends. In 1919 Johnston accepted an appointment as tutor to the ex-Emperor of China, P'ü-i,37 and Lockhart in his report for that year spoke of the 'great loss to the service. He had served uninterruptedly in Weihaiwei since 1904 and had proved himself an officer of exceptional administrative capacity, his intimate knowledge of the Chinese, their customs, and their language having won for him a high place in the esteem of the native population with which his duties brought him into such intimate contact.'38 They were both Scots but their friendship, it would seem, was based not on tribalism but on a mutual admiration for Chinese civilisation.
Lockhart left Weihaiwei on 23 April, 1921, on H.M. Ship Cairo, a passage having been placed at his disposal by the Commander-in-Chief, China Station. His popularity with all classes of the Chinese population 'was evidenced by the erection of two "Pei" (commemorative tablets) in his honour and the presentation of numerous addresses and scrolls, two "myriad name" umbrellas, one dress of "myriad name robes" and a bowl of pure water (the symbol of purity of administration).'39
Lockhart had been popular mainly because he understood the Chinese and left them alone. As he wrote: "There is in China a