283
neigh
and to destroy partially other villages in the mei
bourhood, in addition to lowl craft.
The G-in-C, strongly depressted this
operation, which he considered both imprmationbla
and likely to have undesirable songequences,
The C-in-C's telegram was my first inti-
mation of this plan, and in replying to it I felt
bound to supert Bir 1, Tyrwhitt's view na to the
undesirability of the proposed operation. Punitive
motion in the form of the destruction of villagos
and craft my prove in the long run to be the only
effective way of dealing with piretes, but with
overy sympathy with the desire of the Hongkong
Government te zoet sus pirmay, I could not but fool
great relusbance be agres to the use of X,X. Forees
in the very drastie method new contemplated by the
Severumənt of Hongkong save in the very last resert.
Such work is repugnant to our inatizets and if it
has to be done, it ought to be done by the Chinese
authorities themselves and in their own way,
Farther telographia correspondence showed
that the Hongkong Goverment did not in any esas
consider the prepares plan applicable in oenasqUENDO
of the pirney of the "Irene", which was a Chinese
Tessel; and that they were willing to modify is in
detail and only to put it inte operation after the
pirmay of a kritisk venzel and after giving the
Cantonese authorities, if relations with them por.
mitted, a time-limit of four days in which to take
aetiam/