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Superieur at Hanoi announced that some rebels had broken through the cordon of troops and that every precaution had been taken to preserve order; and this was immediately followed by a notifi- cation from the Mayor giving a long list of public buildings in which the European population was to take refuge on the alarm being given. Since that date more engagements with the rebels have been recorded in the Press, and it is obvious that the aff- air is not yet at an end. The Government has mobilised all the private motorcars of any speed and sent them up country in the hope of rounding up the bandits.
The general tendency is to attribute the revolt to the un- due severity of the Resident at Thai-nguyen and to deny that it has any political significance or connection with the revolution ary movement; but it is difficult to judge how far this correct ly represents the situation, and the fact that a reward of $2000 has been offered for the capture of each of the two leaders and $500 for several subordinates would appear to indicate that the Authorities regard the matter in a serious light. Moreover, on the 29th September private news was received here of a serious mutiny having occurred at Ham-Dinh, a large town in Tonkin, where two regiments of tirailleurs are quartered; this has not so far been confirmed (Oct: 10th) and the fact that no mention of it has been made in the Press would indicate that either the re- port is false or that the mutiny was of too serious a nature to permit of any information regarding it passing the censor. It is difficult to get any reliable news at present, but from various sources and reports which have reached me I am inclined to think that there is probable some foundation for the report.
It is obvious that this revolutionary movement in Annam which is a perpetual nightmare to the Authorities has extensive ramifications, and the French are hard put, with the depleted garrisons at their disposal, to cope with it; modern ideas of democracy and the rights of weak nations have penetrated into Tonkin, and it is an open question whether the French will have
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