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the list of these cases that the attached report is chiefly
deficient, for comparatively few are reported to the Police, but
hardly a day goes by without my hearing of one or more fresh
instances.
5.
On the 9th. instant His Excellency the
General Officer Commanding came to consult me in regard to a
positive and emphatic report which had been made to him by an
ex-soldier who had been employed in the Chinese Customs and is
I believe married to a Chinese wife, to the effect that it was
the intention of an anti-foreign gang who loudly declare that
Hongkong should be returned to China, to poison the whole of the
troops on Christmas Day. I learn on enquiry that this report has
circulated among the Chinese, but Mr. C. Clementi informs me
that he is convinced it originated among the European residents
themselves. The General, however, proposes to take certain pre-
-cautions. The animus of the crowds who have assembled on the
occasions referred to is shewn by their shouts of "strike" or
"kill" the Foreigner.
6.
There is I think no occasion for me to
trouble you with any further details of this unfortunate state
of affairs. It will be of more use if I state briefly the causes which in my opinion have given rise to it, and the means
I have adopted to put an end to it.
7.
There is I think no question whatever that
the feeling of hostility is confined to certain of the lower classes, some of whom are riff-raff from Canton. Their heads have
become swollen by the contemplation at a safe distance of the exploits of others in "the emancipation of China from the foreign (Manchu) yoke", and their heads deprived of the queue have become unbalanced. Not only is there no indication whatever that this feeling is in any way shared by respectable Chinese, but on the contrary I have been greatly struck with the loyal way in which the leading Chinese have consulted me, and followed my advice. They are all without exception enthusiastically on the side of the Revolutionaries, and as practically without exception