On the 9th of June last,
In consequence of this outrage the Governor of Hongkong proceeded to Canton and invited the Viceroy to give protection to the matsheds and to preserve the peace of the Territory until taken over.
Measures were taken by the Viceroy accordingly and soldiers sent into the territory, but the protection given was clearly inadequate as on the 14th of April the matsheds were burnt.
The Governor of Hongkong having telegraphed to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies that he apprehended disturbances, I instructed Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking by telegraph to impress upon the Yamen the necessity of taking adequate precautions against further troubles.
On the 16th of April the territory was taken over by the Hongkong Government.
On the same day the Governor of Hongkong telegraphed that the officer in command of the troops at Taipohu had found, posted on the hill opposite, a large Chinese force, which had fired on the British troops.
Further attacks were made on the 17th and 18th.
On the 18th of April the Governor reported that the Viceroy of Canton had declined to reply to a request which he had sent to him through Her Majesty's Consul at that port that the Chinese officials and troops should be removed from the territory leased to Great Britain. The Governor further stated that a force of 600 Chinese troops had been sent into Kowloon city, where they were not required, the need for protection being on the Northern frontier.
I thereupon instructed Mr. Bax-Ironside by telegraph to urge the Tsungli-Yamen to send stringent orders to the Viceroy for the removal of the troops, and to impress on them that the results of neglect to observe the stipulations of the Convention would be serious.
He reported on the 20th of April that