783
sive, with a vast population of mixed elements, and swarms with brigands. No measures to hunt out and arrest those men can secure their extirpation in a few hours. Even in Europe cases of robbery and murder occur in spite of the fact that the police are everywhere and the strictest precautions are adopted. Human nature, we know, is not the same, and robbers exist not only in China but in every country.
It is my earnest desire to secure the suppression of piracy, as you urge me to do, and your statement that no troops have been detached for that purpose can only be due to an imperfect knowledge of the actual state of affairs. It is in no way incumbent upon me to acquaint you in detail with such matters of internal administration, but I see no objection, under the circumstances, to my giving you a general idea of my dispositions.
There are 33 battalions of Gendarmerie in the province, in five divisions, of which Canton is the Central Division with 25 battalions, distributed amongst the Namhoi, Pan Yu, Hoiang Shan, Tung Kuan, Hsin Hui, Shun Te, Hsin Ning, Hsin An, Hua Hsien, Samshui, Ching Yuan, Tseng Cheng, Lung Men, Tseng Hsien, Hao Shan, and Kai Ping districts.