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found in a field. He had a slight but not mortal bullet wound, and had apparently been strangled to death--by whom it is not known.
These two affairs, small as they were, had a somewhat disquieting effect on the French population of Ilanoi. The desperate nature of the resistance offered by this handful of men and their success in holding out for so long against largely superior French forces seemed to show a considerable change in the conditions since the time of the conquest of Tonkin twenty-five years before.
On the 28th August an anti-French plot was discovered at Hanoi, and several arrests were made, five of the accused being subsequently sentenced, by administrative measure without trial, to deportation for ten years. A secret society amongst the servants of Europeans was also brought to light, among the members of which were certain individuals who had already been suspected of complicity in the plot for poisoning the garrison during the summer of 1908, but who had escaped
conviction.
On the 31st August the command of the column against the Dê-Tham was withdrawn from Commandant Chofflet and given to Commandant Bonifacy. On the 5th September a band of fifteen rifles under the command of Ca-rinh, the De-Tham's principal lieutenant, was reported some 3 miles west of Phuc-Yen. On the 6th they were attacked at the village of Yen-Lo by a force despatched by Comunandant Bonifacy, consisting of a company of colonial infantry, a company of tirailleurs, a detachment of the Legion, and a section of artillery. The fighting lasted all day, and the band was more than half destroyed, their losses being said to be nine killed and one prisoner. The French loss was, however, also serious, consisting of three Europeans and one tirailleur killed in action, three Europeans dead from sun-stroke, and four Europeans and five tirailleurs wounded.
The De-Tham himself was at this time in the mountainous region between the Day River and the Rivière Claire, and his intention was to cross the latter stream, and eventually to gain the Province of Thanh-Hoa in North Annam. The river was, however, effectively patrolled, and a move in this direction was prevented. At the end of September, the De-Tham's position being accurately known, the Kham Sai and the column of troops-amounting to some 3,000 men in all-left the province of Phuc-Yen and concentrated in the north of the province of Vinh-Yen.
In the meantime, on the 26th September, the band of Kiem, (who on the 2nd August, had sacked the militia post at Hoa-Binh, as recounted in my despatch above-mentioned) had attacked another post of militia at Hoa-lae in the Sontay province. The band was repulsed after having killed four militiamen and wounded seven. Kiem did not, however, act in conjunction with the Dê-Tham.
On the 5th October Commandant Bonifacy attacked the latter's force. It had strongly entrenched itself in a ravine on the south-west side of the Nui-Lang mountain. The position was an extremely difficult one to attack and the French soldiers underwent great hardships. The De-Tham is said to have had seventy rifles engaged in the affair. His actual losses as far as could be ascertained were six killed, two wounded, and one prisoner, but his morale was badly shaken as he had thought himself secure, The band broke up and escaped in the night, the members dispersing in different directions. It has never re-assembled since. A portion of the attacking force was for four hours at twenty-five yards from the enemy's fire. It is not to be wondered at therefore that the French loss was serious---eight Europeans and eleven natives killed and thirty-four wounded. The evacuating of the wounded on Vietri was extremely difficult owing to the nature of the country and the troops were absolutely exhausted, all idea of pursuing the enemy being impossible.
The De-Tham with a few followers left the Nui-Lang mountains and recrossed the Day. Bonifacy moved his column into the Tam-Dao region. The fight at Nui-Lang had evidently had a disheartening effect on the rebels and several of them came in and made their submission. On the 24th October the Dê-Tham's principal lieutenant, Ca-rinh, with six of his followers surrendered to the Kham Sai. This was a serious loss to the rebel chief. He gradually worked his way back through the province of Thai-Nguyen to his former district in the Yen-the of which he had been for years the virtual ruler. On the 25th November he was definitely signalled there. On the 1st December a notable capture was made in the person of his third wife. This women is a veritable Amazon; she took a personal and active part in most of the recent engagements, carrying a rifle herself and sometimes, it is said, commanded detachments on foraging and reconnoitring expeditions. A couple of days later the leader himself was nearly caught and an individual of his party was killed, who proved to be none other than the cook who had been the principal instrument in the plot to
3
poison the Hanoi garrison in 1908. Numerous other submissions now took place and the position improved so far that early in December the greater part of the military column (which had been formed after the kidnapping of M. Voisin in July) could be sent back to garrison duty.
At the end of December the military authorities had to turn their attention to the Yunnan frontier. About 100 Chinese soldiers, at an isolated post, mutinied, and crossed into Touking with arms and ammunition. It was feared that they might repeat the exploits of the "Reformists" from Yunnan in the summer of 1908, and prompt measures were taken to deal with them. Troops were sent to bar their advance, and they were called upon to submit. They refused to do so, and announced their intention of marching across Tonking. On the morning of the 5th January they were attacked and put to flight, losing sixteen killed and seventeen wounded. Unfortunately, on the French side a captain was killed and four men wounded. Further reinforcements were sent up and the remnants of the band were disposed of. A good many were killed, others were driven back across the frontier, and some were captured and handed over to the Chinese authorities, who executed them.
Meanwhile, operations on a small scale had for some time been in progress against the band of Kiem, the sacker of Hoa-Binh. These operations were brought to a close at the end of December, when eighty of the rebels had made their submission. There had been little or no serious fighting; the French had had one man severely wounded, and the " pirates" had lost eight killed and five wounded. On the 13th January the chief, Kiem himself, surrendered, the only terms given him being that his life should be spared. It is believed that he was partly led to submit by the apparently generous fashion in which Ca-rinh and the other surrendered partisans of the De-Tham were being treated. To them also the Government had only guaranteed their lives, but they had been left in provisional liberty under the surveil- lance of the provincial authorities. Ca-rinh himself had, indeed, been treated with many marks of distinction. Five days after Kiem's surrender, however, Ca-rinh and some sixty other surrendered rebels, who had been left in the Yen-thé district, together with the third wife of the De-Tham, were simultaneously put into close arrest, brought by special train to Hanoi, and locked up in the prison there. Kiem and his followers have been similarly dealt with. The De-Tham probably congratu- lates himself on not having trusted to appearances,
He is still believed to be wandering in the Yen-the jungle with one or two faithful attendants. The Kham Sai, having failed to effect his capture, was recalled on the 1st March and his band of "partisans" dispersed. The remains of Comman- dant Bonifacy's column were also broken up, the commandant himself, however, remaining to administer the Yen-thế. The pursuit is now entrusted to the militia, who are endeavouring to bring it to an end before the beginning of the hot weather. It is possible that the Dê-Tham might again cause trouble if not disposed of before the heat renders difficult active operations on the part of white troops, but it is not likely that he would still enjoy the prostige which a year ago gave him the support of a great part of the population in the provinces of Yen-thé and Phuc-Yen. the whole, it appears that M. Klobukowski, the Governor-General (who is now in France), is quite justified in describing the affair of the Dê-Tham as virtually at an end.
I enclose a rough sketch-map showing the relative positions of the principal places mentioned in this despatch.
I have, &c.
* Not printed.
T. Ff. CARLISLE.
Ou
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