[B]
C.O.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.133552
RECE
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[34652]
No. 1.
REG2 12 OCT 09
[September 16.]
691
SECTION 2.
Consul Carlisle to Sir Edward Grey-(Received September 16.)
(No. 2. Confidential.) Sir,
Hanoi, August 7, 1909. IN several of my despatches in this series written last year, I referred to the disturbed condition of Tonquin, and to the armed attacks by brigands which were taking place in various parts of the country. Matters have not improved since then, and lately indeed seem to have become aggravated. I have the honour therefore to give in this despatch a brief résumé of some recent events which may be of interest in case of further developments in this direction.
In my No. 6 of the 18th May, 1908, I mentioned the Dê-Tham, an Annamite ex-rebel, or, according to the French, "pirate," who, after carrying on a highly successful campaign for several years at the time of the conquest and pacification of He made a first submission Tonquin, had been one of the very last to lay down his arms.
in 1894, but took the field again the following year and fought until 1897, when he once more came to terms with the French, and was granted a concession in the Yen-thé district, near Phu-lang-thuong. Since then he had lived there in practical independence, showing a marked distrust of the French, and gradually gathering round him a body- guard of well-armed retainers. He had for long been suspected of maintaining relations with the discontented and freebooting elements of the population, and he had acquired a wide-spread reputation amongst the natives as a great chieftain whom the French feared to offend. When last year, after the attempted poisoning of the Hanoi garrison, the condition of the country began to appear threatening, the resident-superior of Tonquin invited the De-Tham to come into Hanoi and pay his respects (which he had consistently refused to do since his submission), in order to dissipate the rumours which were current as to his disaffection. The Dê-Tham gave a trivial excuse to postpone the visit, and never came at all. It was then decided that he must be reduced by force, as mentioned in my despatches Nos. 12 and 13 of last year. The preparations were kept as secret as possible, the Government denying till the last that any expedition was in contemplation, and it was not until the end of January that they were completed and an ultimatum was presented to the De-Tham, to which he did not reply.
A column of 1,500 men was quietly concentrated, and on the 29th January all was ready. The Dê-Tham was to have been taken by surprise, but a misunderstanding seems to have arisen between the "garde indigène," or militia, who are under the order of the civil authorities, and the military. At all events the former, to the number of about 200 men, attacked the De-Tham's position in the morning of that day without waiting for the support of the military. The militia were badly beaten, the De-Tham's men, who are supposed to have numbered about 150, coming out of their stronghold and charging. The militia fell back in some confusion to the base of operations at Nha Nam. The next day the regular troops advanced with the artillery and shelled the Dê-Tham's two strongholds, but it was too late-be and his men had disappeared.
After this a few desultory skirmishes took place with outlying bands of brigands, but there was no serious engagement. The troops occupied the whole Yen-thé district, and the Dê-Tham was supposed to be blockaded in the mountains and to be entirely cut off from supplies. A large number of his female relations were captured and kept in taken prisoners, or made a Phu-lang-thuong; several of his retainers also were voluntary submission. About April official information was to the effect that he had not more than a dozen men left with him, that he and they were starving, and that his As a matter of fact, it appears now submission was only a question of a few weeks. that he was being well supplied with provisions all the time, his influence with the native population being much greater than the authorities supposed. When the hot weather arrived, part of the European troops were withdrawn from the Yen-thé, which seemed to be thoroughly pacified.
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