PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TILLNC.O. 882
וווווווווווייין
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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Hong Kong Regiment, should march over on Saturday the 15th, to have things in readiness for the ceremony of hoisting the flag, I determined to send the police in at once by launch. When they arrived they found a heap of smouldering ruins. They returned and reported the matter, and, still under the impression that the burning of the mat- sheds was simply an act of wanton mischief, I directed the police to return next morn- ing, taking tents, and also the company of the Hong Kong Regiment, with instructions that they were to hire some coolies and have the debris cleared away. It was evident that the Viceroy had not afforded the protection in accordance with his undertaking; but the cost of the matsheds was a comparatively unimportant matter.
14. On the arrival of the police and troops they observed large numbers of ap- parently Chinese troops in regular uniform, who were in position on the hills to the north of Taipohu village. There was also a battery of guns mounted in a regular em- placement. These people opened fire, which was sustained for a considerable time until the arrival of Her Majesty's ship "Fame," with Captain Long, Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General, who had gone round to arrange the position of the camp. "Fame" landed a party of 16 men under Lieutenant Keyes, R.N., who joined the forces engaged on the hill. The "Fame" then opened fire on the Chinese position, and the troops and bluejackets advanced, clearing away the assailants, who were regularly in- trenched, and capturing a flag which had on it an inscription, showing it to be the flag of one of the local land forces of China.
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15. On receiving intelligence of the serious turn that events had taken, Major- General Gascoigne proceeded to the spot himself, with three companies of the Hong Kong Regiment and one company of the Asiatic Artillery. He was accompanied by Mr. Stewart Lockhart, who was instructed by me to hoist the flag on arrival, and to read Her Majesty's Order in Council and my proclamation, so as to make our position regular. Early on the morning of the 16th I telegraphed to the Consul at Canton, requesting him to inform the Viceroy that the British flag had been hoisted, and to request that all Chinese soldiers and officials, except the Customs officials, might be removed from the leased area, to which request from the Consul His Excellency sent & verbal message that he declined to give any reply. A short time after the hoisting of the flag the entire force was again attacked, but the firing was from such a distance that no casualties occurred, and when the troops proceeded to attack in turn, the Chinese dispersed. General Gascoigne returned on Sunday afternoon and reported that he apprehended no serious difficulty.
16. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the troops were moving to the west- ward to search some villages, in which it was reported that nine men were imprisoned who had come in from Ping-Shan district to Hong Kong on the 12th instant to present a petition to me praying for clemency on account of the first burning of the matsheds. On each day they were attacked. On Wednesday the attacking force consisted of 2,600 men, who, in the neighbourhood of Kam-Tin, advanced across the open in excellent skirmishing order against two companies of the Hong Kong Regiment until they were within 300 yards, when they broke and fled. This was the last attack, and was repulsed with some loss, which would have been much heavier had not the fire been humanely controlled when the assailants fled. Two guns were taken in Monday's pursuit, and six other guns were found thrown into a deep pond at Un-Long.
17. Since then the villagers acknowledge that in their resistance they were hope- lessly beaten, and Mr. Stewart Lockhart reports that they are now returning to work. I have instructed him to make every effort to beget confidence, and to remove the idea that we have come to change their customs or to confiscate their land.
18. This is a narrative of the events of the 19 days in the new territory. But there are other facts that have a direct bearing upon the whole matter. It will be remembered that there was a difficulty about the question of the retention of the Cus- toms stations in the leased area, as I pointed out that, by the automatic action of the Convention, the Chinese Customs officials could not continue to exercise their functions while the leased area remained under British jurisdiction, to which the Viceroy de- murred. On the 10th instant the Viceroy informed the Consul that there was no use in my proceeding to hoist the flag on the 17th instant as he declined to hand it over as the Chinese Customs were not to be allowed to remain within the new territory. To that despatch, after receiving your approval, I replied that under instructions from Her Majesty's Government, I would proceed at 1 p.m. on the 17th to hoist the British flag, and invited His Excellency to name an official of suitable rank to be present at the onremony. On the 15th I was informed that Deputy Wang, who had been the Chinese Commissioner for the delimitation of the boundary, had been sent down by the Viceroy with 300 soldiers to Kowloon. On receipt of the message from Captain Berger of the
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Hong Kong Regiment that he was opposed by Chinese troops with guns, I sent for Deputy Wang, and demanded to know if these men were Chinese troops. He said no, adding that the Viceroy had sent him down to see that 900 men should be placed in the new territory to "protect it" until I took it over. I told him that I had determined to hoist the flag next morning, and that all Chinese soldiers and officials must leave the leased area. On the 17th the Commissioner of Imperial Customs conveyed to me that Deputy Wang wished to see me, and shortly after he waited upon me accompanied by Mr. Hillier, the Chinese Commissioner. Deputy Wang was anxious to discuss the Customs question, about which he had evidently been sent down, but I declined to enter upon the subject. I told him that I could not permit Chinese troops to remain in the territory and at Kowloon, and could not understand why the Viceroy should have con- sidered it necessary to send to Kowloon an additional force of 300 men two days before the date on which I announced that the new territory would be taken over. He pressed for some time with the question, and in the course of his remarks said something which the Chinese Customs Commisioner did not translate, saying it was mere folly, but Mr. Mansfield, Her Majesty's Consul at Canton, who was present, at once interpreted it as a statement that the 300 soldiers had been sent down to protect the Customs. I told him that it was necessary that these men should be withdrawn; he promised to tele- graph to the Viceroy, and if no answer was returned, to go to Canton himself, although, from the known state of the Viceroy's feelings, he had little hope of obtaining the neces- sary authority to move. I made it clear that it would be necessary for the soldiers to withdraw, whatever the state of the Viceroy's feelings. Deputy Wang stated that there were several parties of soldiers stationed all through the territory, which he would order to come to Kowloon. I said that those men should be ordered to retire to Sham- Chun rather than to Kowloon, to reach which place they would be obliged to march across the territory and over the hills.
19. I have stated that my proclamation was posted in different parts of the leased area on and after the 7th instant. In the absence of Mr. Stewart Lockhart, who is in the new territory, I cannot say what arrangement was made for posting it, but as up to the 14th we had no reason to apprehend that there was the slightest unfriendliness on the part of the people, I presume that some native of the district was employed to post them in the usual manner. On the 20th instant I received a petition from a wife of a man named Cheung-Tsoi, who was, it appears, employed to post those notices. He had posted or distributed some, for evidence since forthcoming shows that when the leaders were declaring for resistance, they said that this man must be killed if he re- turned to his village from Hong Kong, where he then was, with any more proclamations. The evidence goes to show that early on the morning of the 18th he left Hong Kong for Castle Peak Bay, en route for his village of Ha-Tsün. At the time a large number of the people, who had been called to arms, were assembled at Castle Peak Bay. It is not clear if the man carried any of my proclamations with him, but he was seized at Castle Peak Bay and sent as a prisoner to his village, where he was confined in the meeting house. After the defeat at Kam Tin, the leader, whose name is known, with others, came to Ha-Tsün, beat the man and then shot him; put the body in a pig basket and flung it into the river. The body was subsequently found with a chain tightly fastened round the neck, and several shot wounds. Apart from the attack upon the troops this is the only outrage that has taken place during the week after the 15th instant.
20. In searching this meeting house, Mr. Stewart Lockhart has discovered several letters, which show the course of events previous to the outbreak of violence, and he has further obtained the statements of two of the leaders in the movement, who have sub- mitted and expressed contrition. The statements and the letters show a state of clan feeling and power of combination not unlike that of the Scottish Highlands two cen- turies ago, and it is evident that there was no secrecy whatever in the clan meetings and public discussions on the question of resistance. Nor was there any secrecy in the manner in which help was asked for and given by affiliated societies in the turbulent district north of the border. They could not have come down as they did, in con- siderable numbers, without the knowledge of the Viceroy's officials at Sham-Chun, where they had to cross the river by a ferry. Nor could the warlike preparations have been made without the knowledge and connivance of the 600 troops which the Viceroy acknowledges that he placed in the leased area, " to preserve order." The emplacement for guns and the intrenchments at Taipohu were never made by peasants without some direction from a person having military training of some sort.
21. Two of the letters found in the meeting house mention Major Fong, who was