COPY.
No. 159
Consul-General, Canto to chargé d'Affaires, Peking.
Copies to Yunnanfu
Hongkong
ก
sir,
299
H. B. M. Consulate-General,
Cant on,
November 20th.,1916.
I have the honour to report that General Lung
reached the island of Hainan a few days ago. He declined a passaXO
by a Government vessel, embarking at Hongkong on board a merchart
steemer.
The number of troops which he officially was permitted
to take with him was fixed at 8,000, but on the pretext that, were
his soldiers to be disbanded locally, collisions might ocour
between then and the later arrivals, he is understood to have a
considerable larger force at his disposal. Arrangemente for
transport were made by Admiral Sa, who also despatched a small
cruiser to patrol off the Leichou peninsula with a view to
intercepting the illicit importation of arme.
The latter officer has been occupied in the ungrate-
ful task of composing differences between the various rulers,
self-appointed and others, of this province, and is anxious to
depart.
i
Chu Ch'ing lam, the Civil Governor, is a olever,
energetic man with ambitions, which constantly find themselves
thwarted by his colleague Lu Jung-t'ing, the Tuchun. It is also
rumoured that the ex-Civil Governor Chang Wing,ch'1 is intriguing
to recover his old post, and another candidate therefore is ch'en
Chiung-ming, a Cantonese, at one time Tutu. General Lu is a
decrepit and ignorant individual, enjoying a high reputation and
commanding & numerous following, on what grounds it would appear
impossible to determina. One redeeming feature of his regime in
the strict control which he exercises over his subordinate officers.
The difficulty which they experience in endeavouring