china — Page 21

Sir, Foreign Office, April 14, 1848 .
I AM directed by Viscount Palmerston to acknowledge the receipt of your
further letter of the 7th instant, in answer to mine of the 25th ultimo, on the
subject of the events which occurred at Canton in the early part of December
last ; and I am to state to you in reply, that his Lordship does not admit the
correctness either of the assertions or of the arguments contained in your
letter .
I am , &c.
(Signed) H. U. ADDINGTON .
 1



CoñRESPOND ENCE
between
the
Foreign
Office
and
Commercial
the
Association
of
Manchesterin,
and,.
1848
1846
1847
Presented
House
the
Commons
Commandofto
by
Majesty
Her
pursuance
Address
their
ofin,
1857.
28,
May
LONDON:
PRINTED
BY.
HARRISON
SONS
AND




*
)


FURTHER PAPERS


RELATING TO TUR




PROCEEDINGS


OF




HER MAJESTY'S NAVAL FORCES


AT




CANTON.
3
line 57


Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.
1857 .




LONDON :
PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS .

20.20pm
.
 FAHVAKO COLLEGE
OCT 9 1919
LIBRARY




LIST OF PAPERS.




No. Pago
1. Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon April 14 , 1857 1
Sixteen Inclosures.
11
2. Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon April 24 ,
Five Inclosures.
 3




Further Papers relating to the Proceedings of Her
Majesty's Naval Forces at Canton .


No. 1 .

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon .- (Received May 31.)
(Extract.) Hong Kong, April 14, 1857.
I SEND your Lordship a report from Mr. Chinese Secretary Wade, giving
an account of sundry documents seized on board a mandarin junk by the
expedition commanded by Commodore Elliott.
These papers seem to connect the Imperial Commissioner, the mandarins,
and the Canton Associations , with the atrocious acts of incendiarism , kidnapping ,
.


and assassination , which have menaced, and continue to menace, the Colony.
They contain , moreover, satisfactory evidence of the efficacy of the precautions
taken hitherto for the preservation of the persons and property of Her Majesty's
subjects ; precautions which I hope will conduct us safely through our perils.
As there is no time to forward a copy of these documents to the Colonial
Department, may I hope your Lordship will kindly cause this despatch and its
inclosures to be communicated to Mr. Labouchere ?
A digest of the contents of the documents above referred to is under prepa
ration by Mr. Wade, but it is far too voluminous to be forwarded by the present
mail.




Inclosure 1 in No. 1 .

Mr. Wade to Sir J. Bowring.

Sir, Chinese Secretary's Office, Hong Kong, April 14, 1857.
I HAVE the honour to inclose to your Excellency the Memorandum
prepared by your desire of the contents of certain papers recently seized on
board a mandarin junk by a party under the orders of Commodore Elliot.
From the original pile , which was of considerable bulk , I selected between fifty
and sixty papers having reference to recent events in and near this Colony ; of
these I have to lay before your Excellency rough translations of twelve , and in
the accompanying Memorandum will be found ,as nearly in order of time as I
have been enabled to arrange them , all the items of intelligence contained in the
whole collection of papers that appear to me deserving of record .
The papers prove to be the correspondence of Chan-tsze-tin, the younger
brother of Chan -kwei-tsih , President or Chief of the Committee of Hostility in
San-on, the district on the coast of which Hong Kong is situated. The latter is
a graduate of the degree of doctor, and formerly held office as a subordinate
member of the Board of Revenue. His brother is a graduate, and the pupil of
Su-ting-kwei , a member of the Han Lin College , one of the most important of
Canton gentry, and apparently the channel of communication between these
brothers and the Governor -General Yeh ; by whose desire they repaimad to their
[240] B 2
 2

native district towards the end of last year, for the purpose of organizing its
population against us.
Chan -tsze -tin, who was specially invested with the charge of stopping our
supplies , distributed his pickets, as far as I can gather, along the communications
between Cowloon and the district city of San -on, on the left bank of the Canton
river near its mouth. His success, as director of the blockade, has not been
very brilliant, and his braves, in three instances at least, have been recently
involved in collision with the coast population, so scrious as abundantly to
occupy the force at the disposal of the district authoritics. It is remarkable
that on two of these occasions the recusants threatened the braves that they
would surrender them to the British Government.
A rough map , which will be completed tomorrow, will show your Excel
ed to in my Memorandum.
lency the position of the different localities referred
The correspondence establishes, beyond doubt, that the San-on Committee,
under authority, and in some cases at the dictation of the Canton Central
Committee, have been parties to almost every atrocity with which we have been
menaced by report, or of endeavour to perpetrate which we have been apprised.
The great junk attack which was expected, belonged to the forces of the
Heung-shan and Shun - tak districts ; and we find no allusion to undertakings on
so grand a scale. Minor expeditions , most likely with incendiary intent, are
projected. There are two allusions to the great poisoning case, but not as an
event in which the San -on people took any immediate part. The accused,
Cheung -alum , is a native of Heung -shan ; and supposing him guilty, the San-on
Committee would by no means, as a matter of course, have been advised of
his design. There is no great evidence of its concert, in any measure, with
jurisdiction beyond the limits of San-on.
It is clearly made out , however, that incendiary plots and assassinations
were devised by this San -on Committee ; attempted, and, as they believe, effected
by their agents, who, when successful , were rewarded either by the San-on
Coinmittee, or by the Chief Committee of Canton . Attempts known to us to
have been made without success, to fire buildings and steamers, are spoken of,
both before and after the fact. The firing of Mr. Duddell's store, and the seizure
of the “ Queen ” steamer, are maiters of great gratulation ; so, on one occasion,
is the kidnapping of foreigners, and that some must have been assassinated there
can be little doubt ; mention being made of more than one transmission of
heads to Canton, and of the disputes regarding the amount of remuneration to
be awarded the assassin .
The victims ( unless corpses have been disinterred for the sake of their
heads) we must assume to have been Portuguese or Manilla men, as no member
of the British or American community has, to our knowledge, been missing.
That Yeh, whose proclamations of reward for British subjects, dead or alive, feli
into our hands very soon after the beginning of these troubles, is consulted
regarding the disposal of captives, is clear from allusion to his instructions
regarding the imprisonment of the eleven or twelve men surrendered to the
San- on Committee by pirates.
On the expectation that we are about to treat for peace, Yeh has directed
his subordinates to abstain from all more seriously aggressive measures, and to
confine themselves to the stoppage of supplies. My belief is, that the expenses
of his militia drive him to accept this hypothesis, and that he is glad to find an
excuse for disbanding a portion of his troublesome allies.
The whole story must satisfy every one of the expediency ofall precautions
that have yet been taken, no less than, in my humble opinion , of the necessity
of guarding against any relaxation of vigilance. The late expedition to Nam -tan
will do much to check the activity of our zealous neighbour, Chan-kwei-tzih,
but it would be unwise to forget the reflection of his brother, that “ when the
barbarians are tired of watching, a blow may be struck with certainty.”
I have, &c.
(Signed) THOMAS WADE,
Chinese Secretary .
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Inclosure 2 in No. 1 .

Chan - tsze - tin to Chan -kwei -tsih .

( Translation .) Night of the 21st January.
[AFTER describing the route from one station to another, and applying
for arms, &c . , he proceeds :-)
I hear from some of the people of the place (Sha-tin or Cowloon) who
have come back from Victoria, that the English barbarians are in very great
perplexity, that a proclamation is issued every day, and three sets of regulations
come out in two days. People out at night are taken up in aa haste, and let go
in a hurry ; no one is allowed out after 8 o'clock ; the shops forced to take out
tickets at sixtcen dollars each ; the heads of establishments paying five dollars
and the partners threc dollars, and that these are changed every few days .
They say, too, that vessels passing to and fro between Cowloon and Victoria are
not searched. A flour bakery had poisoned several English devils, and had been
closed ; upwards of forty people imprisoned in consequence.
The Heung-shan, San -on, and Tung -kun people in business at Hong
Kong were in great alarm , and thinking of returning home, but the Nam -hoi,
Pun -yu, and Shun -tek men had the perverseness not to be alarmed ; so far from
it, they laughed at those of Heung-shan, San-on, and Tung-kun districts for
standing in awe of their mandarins and gentry.
It is also stated that more passage-boats come from Kong -mun to Hong
Kong than before, and that boats still go and come between it and Macao and
Canton , and that supplies flow in from Kwei-shin, Hoi-fung, and Luk -fung.
A kwei-shin man , by name Wong, of Ha-ching (Oyster Bay) , has started a
lorcha (or some such vessel) , which carries 100 bullocks or more every trip. A
“ tsung ” (thic Peninsular and Oriental Company's compradore) of the bullock
shambles is a traitor in chief. Since the commencement of this business, he has
(or they have) opened a number of devil shops. Several of the Nam -hoi, Shun
tek , Huru-chan and Chin -chan people are also making large ptofits. Steps
should, I think, be taken to bring them to justice, in order to the prevention of
the like for the time to come.
I shall go to Cowloon to -morrow , &c.

Note. - Nam -hoi and Pun-yu are the districts on the conterminous bounda
ries of which stands Canton . Shun -tek is a little lower down the river, on the
west side, as Tung-kun is on the cast. San - on lies east of the mouth, as Heung
shan lies west .



Inclosure 3 in No. 1 .

Chan - tsze-tin to Chan -kuei-tsih.

( Translation .) February 5.
ON the 2nd February, I received the 200 taels for the men's pay.
The ten braves from Kin-ton are arrived and have been placed on iny
strergth. The expedition the braves had been directed to make across the
water on the 31st January, did not succeed. On the 3rd, therefore, I returned
to the camp (at Sha -tin ), and, on consideration , postponed the attempt for a few
days. It appears that the English barbarians are much more on the alert ; they
fire guns at intervals during the night to keep up their spirits. Steamers and
other vessels, to the number of twenty, small and great, cruize day and night
without cessation. In every devil hong is stationed a guard of devil soldiers ;
at sunset they make ready their cannon with great care. The police devils ,
in bands of eighteen, patrol, andwhen they cometo a dangerous place they form
up into large bodies and fire, before they venture to proceed.
The Malays and Indian troops that arrived a few days since drill inces
santly. Such being the doubt and alarm of the English rebels, we must wait
till they tire a little of watching, and a blow will then be sure.
At midnight, on the 4th February, I sent ten braves to patrol along the
 4


Hung -ham Pass of Cowloon ; they found a number of small vessels crossing with
vegetables to Victoria . At the sight of the braves their crews took to the
water and escaped , and they only caught two men , Wong-ang and Li-muk
yeung. They were allowed to plunder the boats of their entirc cargo of
vegetables and other things. They also took a devil's boat and two traitorous
Chinese rowing therein ; three others escaped, and the boat was taken into
Cowloon, and left in charge of the Tipo (the head borough ) ; the oars, anchors,
& c ., were brought in to the camp. I have now sent the braves with the two
traitorous Chinese and these articles to you , and request you will have the
affair judicially looked into and settled .
On the 2nd, at Lik -yun-tai-wei, a man named Wong -tai-muk, dressed in
devil clothes and boots, with a devil fowling. piece in his hand, speaking the
devil language fluently, and also Chinese of the Heung-shan dialect,* came
down thehill-side shooting and up to the tents. His appearance being in every
way suspicious, he was seized by the braves and, on being questioned , admitted
that he had been in barbarian service at Victoria ; also that he had owned there
the Tak-lung pork butchery and the Iliny -lung fish concern ; that about the
middle of January he had gone home from Victoria ; he had come out to shoot
because he had nothing else to do, and was in no way a traitorous Chinese.
The gentry and elders of the Nine Wards have given a bail-bond for him , I was
enabled to deal leniently with the case, and released him with a slight punish
ment (or fine) .
I am in want of the following articles (enumerated ).
Yu - ki-nin says that in the eastern division at Sba -tin, and at Chik- mi, boats
load with bullocks, fowls, ducks, & c . , for the supply of the English rebels. It is
very expedient that iwo vessels should be sent to cruize off those places.


Inclosure 4 in No. 1 . .




Chan -tsze- tin to Chan -kwei-tsih .

(Translation.) February 7 , 1857.
I CAME to Cowloon, where there were three of the parties concerned (in the
plot), all of whom insisted on having some guarantee in writing. You will have
found the details in Yu -ki-nin's note, and I have to request that you will signify
to me what remuneration is to be given for each item (of the proceedings therein
specified) , that I may be enabled to discuss this with (the parties interested ).
The barbarian shipping, however, at Victoria has much diminished in number;
in the last few days one -half seem to have gone. The American devils , I under
stand, sec that, as matters stand, there is risk of danger, and ( their ships) have
therefore gone off.
I hear it said that in the course of a few days the English will be sure to
send to Cowloon for the boat we took a short time ago. This is the talk of the
simple villagers, who are full of alarms and misgivings.. For the present I have
forbidden my braves to go to Cowloon, and shall wait some days until I see how
matters stand, before I think of acting.
A few days ago the Englislı rebels took up seven Chinese in the Sheang.
wan (the west of Victoria ). When I see how utterly broken the barbarians are,
I look on it as certain that they will not venture to disturb Cowloon again ( or to
break into it - present themselves there).
I have this day enlisted ten braves - very secretly without the knowledge of
any man - and to morrow shall get a boat for the undertaking. The other body
of men, who are to be put on rations, when the attempt shall have succeeded,
are people of the place (Hong Kong or Cowloon ). They will probably cross the
water in the course of the day (or a few days).
Y11-ki-nin came in from the Committee to-day, and informs me that
yesterday our braves seized eleven rebellious barbarians and have handed them
up to the Committee. I was delighted to hear this; it is really a fine thing.
If we manage matters thus, the English rebels and the local vagabonds will not
• He was most likely a Portuguese of Macao. - See the Governor's late communication .
 5

be able* to bear one another, and each party will get to suspect the other to the
advantage of the main issue. Who is to be sent with these eleven English
rebels ? The two Kwei- shin men need not, I think , be forwarded to Canton. I
am told that their employer sent some one yesterday to learn how the case
stood, and so I suppose he is going to bail them, &c.

Inclosure 5 in No 1 . 0




Chan -kwei- tsih to Chan - tsze - tin .

( Translation .) February 16.
ON the 14th , Tong-sze brought me an answer from you.
In the first decade of the 12th moon (27th December to the 5th January)
Cheng-tsik was directed by the head committee (Canton) to go to Cowloon to
take steps (or the necessary steps). I am told he had got a number of men
together to fire Victoria. I fear, however, that he was not up to the task , and
that he has failed (or will fail) in consequence.
This person was put forward by the I -san -tong (interlined )—I do not know
who is charged with the superintendence of this (tong) —and was to accomplish
his undertaking within a month. Lin-tsun-ngam has taken bis leave of me as
teacher (in my family),and as there is now no gentleman in charge of his twenty
braves, they had better be disbanded ; or the half of them might be, as there
are ten in charge of Sai-kung.
Wan -hing's nephew has got leave for ten days. Mak -ying -tang's station is
Sha-tin ; he has now come in to head - quarters, and will be desired to go to
Sha-tin. On his arrival he must be desired to go to his camp and remain there,
and not to be staying at any other place that he may choose.
Tse-tung-shan (otherwise styled Tse-tso-ko) came in ( from Canton ) to the
Committee ( Sanon) this morning after breakfast, with 30 gilt mandarin buttons,
and 1,000 dollars weighing 690 taels (interlined ); this is to pay the 300 dollars
for the lorcha, and the 30 taels for every devil's head. He also brought
2,000 taels to pay the men , contributed by Wei which I have
ordered to be handed over to the district magistrate.

Postscript. — The price of devil's heads has been reduced this year.

Inclosure 6 in No. 1 .

Chan - tsze -tin to Chan -kwei- tsih .

(Translation .) February 17 .
I WENT on the 29th January to Sai-kung, to Yu-kia -nin's; and the
non-commissioned officers of the Militia of the six wards of Ho -chung, and the
Sha -kok-mi , all came to meet me . The rolls of their train -bands are now
completed , and will be forwarded shortly.
The train -bands of the nine wards of Sik-un are also on foot, and the
non -commissioned officers want the Committee to send flags, and badges, &c.
Yesterday the Commandant Chung returned to Cowloon ; and I learned
to-day that the English rebels had burned four war-junks at Tung.chung, and
were giving out that to-day they would attack Tung-chung itself. One of my
braves has returned from Victoria, and reports that there is no movement of
the kind . Of late they have been more vigilant at Victoria than ever ; no one
is allowed out after 6 o'clock . Devil soldiers share the duty of keeping watch
with the watchmen , and patrol zealously in bodies . From Tai -ping -shan to
West Point there are devils on guard . After the lamps are lit no one is allowed
to go from the shore to the ships, nor to land from the ships . The seamen
devils act as devil soldiers. In the streets there is little business doing . The
Wing -tai, Wo- shang , and Man -tai, three great rice shops , ceased to do business
some days ago .
* I imagine this to allude to a capture some time since, reported on good authority at Macao,
of two lorchas by pirates, who delivered them up to the Mandarins at Nam -tow .
 6

It is now said that the barbarian merchants of the different nations have
deputed some one to England to denounce the English devil Governor (or
Admiral). .




The devils are, in my opinion , in a bad way, and have made this attack on
Tung - chung because they could not vent their spleen elsewhere. Cowloon is
so close that it is easy to watch them thence, and it will be impossible not to
have everything ready ( for its defence) in good time.
(Applies for arms and ammunition, & c., & c . )

Inclosure 7 in No. 1 .

Chan -tsze-tin to Chan - kuei- tsih.

(Translation.) February 21 .
MAN-HINGʻS * nephew returned to the Committec yesterday to report the
state of things in the camp.
This morning the English barbarians sent a note to the office of Cheung
(Commandant of Tai-pong, residirg at Cowloon ).
At noon a steamer, towing 6 or 7 devil-boats, with 300 devil-soldiers,
brought over several tens of outlaws.
A hundred or more devils, all armed with muskets, and several tens of
traitorous Chinese, came to the beach of Cowloon , but did not venture to enter
the streets. Some of the elderly people of the place spoke to them, and then a
military mandarin went out and conferred with the devils. To him the English
barbarians handed over the outlaws, and they were imprisoned in the fort. There
were also three English devils and two traitorous Chinese who came into the
military station ; what passed with them I do not know. After about two hours'
stay, they went on board and sailed away.
The Cowloon people were in great alarm, expecting that there would be a
fight. The neighbouring villages also made ready, and my braves turned out
and lay in their camp waiting to march out.
In the afternoon, one (or some) of my braves came to report what he had
scen , and I thus knew that the English devils had sailed away . What their
purpose (or meaning) may be, it is indeed difficult for any one to divine.
A man, or men, named came to Sha - tin after breakfast,
and said that the Indian (“ Molo ") devil -soldiers who had come were very
miserable wretches, and unfit for service. They looked as if they were ill. Five
or six -tenths of them have no breeches to put on, and they are all wrapped or
swathed in ragged blankets and coverlids . They are now building mat-sheds on
the parade-ground by the barracks.
It has been said, lately, that 3,000 devil-troops are coming, and for some
days they have been embarking guns and other arms, it is said , first to attack
-
Nam-ton, and afterwards Canton. The police ( lit. green jacket) devils say that
there is to be this one fight more , by which they are to stand or fall ; if they are
beaten , they will be willing to sue for peace ; if they cannot obtain peace, then
they will go home to England.
He also reports that there are 100 persons or more engaged in supplying Hong
Kong from different points of this (the central) division of the coast, all along
the neighbourhood of Tsin - wan. Six vessels had been seized by the Tsin -wan
braves, and had been ransomed for 72 dollars . I think it would be best to send
an active gentleman to enforce the interdict at Tsin -wan , or the practice of
supplying (Hong Kong) will go farther.
Ki-nin says the Tsin-wan flour-shop has opened again, and advises me to
take a party of braves thither, and shut it up. I request your instructions on
this point .
I shall be obliged to you to give to the two braves, Leung and Wan -a -tsei,
sent herewith, some thirty or forty catties of powder and twenty catties of bullets,
to bring back with them .


* Oiherwise mentioned as Man -tsap -shin , who gave notice beforehand of the destruction of
Duddell's bakery, and had himself undertaken to fire Victoria.-See Inclosure No. 9.
 7


Inclosure 8 in No. 1 .

Man -hing * to Chan - tsze-tin.
( Translation .) February 21 .
I REACHED San-on yesterday evening at 6 , and reported all that you
desired. The General Committee of San-on had desired Tong-tsze -ki, who had
brought in another devil's head, to take it on to Canton and report his service
(i. e.claim his reward ). The head of the devil in question was taken by some
other vessel (not Tong's). She fell in with a devil's boat of Kap -shui-mun Pai
wan (Aberdeen is probably meant) ; the devils took to the land, and so she only
got this one head which was brought to the Committee.
The Canton Committee are giving now only thirty taels for devils taken,
whether dead or alive (interlined ) ; for a devil's head they will perhaps give thirty
dollars, but I am not sure . The San - on Committee (consequently) do not now
much prize devils' heads. The inoney that was sent to reward the captors of the
devils taken some days ago caused several days ' discussion. Tsu -kwei and the
rest then consented to receive it.
If you , my uncle, wish the braves of your camp to set about this service of
taking devils' heads, it would be well that you told them plainly (what they will
get) ; there will be no occasion (I think) to be very eager about it from this time
forth (i.e. because it does not pay) .
My uncle, Chan -kwei-tsih, and Tse-fung are much pleased with the pro.
position to destroy houses (viz. Hong Kong).
A reduction of the braves is contemplated, as there are too many, &c.

Inclosure 9 in No. 1 .

Yu -ki-nin to Chan -tsze-tin .

( Translation .) February 25 .
I WRITE in haste to say that, with reference to the undertaking proposed
by the (San-on) Committee some time since, and which Man-tsap-shin engaged at
your place to carry out on the 23rd February, he has come to me to say that
the attempt was made on the night in question in rear of the Tung -li mat
buildings establishment, but that other persons (?) coming to the rescue it failed.
He therefore begs for more time, and engages between the 3rd and 6th of the
moon to fire all the line of hongs to the left of the police -station at the Kung -sze
in the Ha - wan (Commissariat), or else to try the Canton Bazaar, or both it and
the others . I will inform you of the result, &c,

Inclosure 10 in No. 1 .

Su -ting -kweit to Chan -kwei -tsih and Tse -tsok -ko.
( Translation .) March 4 .

I RECEIVED a letter from you yesterday. Your proposition to reduce
the braves, for the sake of economy, isevidence of your thoughtfulness, which
is grateful to his Excellency.
But as there is a report (or, we have news) that the English barbarians are
going to acknowledge their transgression, and that the different nations are
united in their entreaties for trade ; the net being thus open on one side, attacks
and captures would be inexpedient. It will be better, therefore, to suspend the
execution of your projects of incendiarism and seizure of vessels, and I intimate
as much to you, that we may be on our guard against a struggle such as beasts
make when surrounded, as this would give some trouble to his Excellency the
Governor -General.

* Man-hing, or Man -tsap-shin .-See Note, page 6 .
+ Su-ting-kwei, a subordinate censor, now in Kwang-tung, in mourning ; residing at Canton,
and corresponding with Chan -kwei -tsih, as member of the Chief Committee.
С
 8


Wei-nan has been here, suggesting that if, while our purpose is in so far
changed, the stoppage of supplies be rigorously enforced, it will cow the rebel
lious barbarians, and so far furnish us with a means of keeping them well in
hand . This measure, therefore, must not be discontinued .
Compliments, &c.

Inclosure 11 in No. 1 .

Chan - tsze - tin to Chan -kwei- tsih .

( Translation .) March 4 .
I HAVE the honour to state that I have received your commands of the
28th February. Regarding the proposition that I should head the subscription to
provide funds to remunerate (the captors of) devils' heads, I immediately applied
to my teacher Kang (qy. Su -ting -kwei ). He says, that the Ruler of the rebels has
written back, blaming the military head of the devils altogether for commencing
the disturbance of last year, and that the Governor -General ( Yeh ) has issued orders
to the different train -bands to suspend offensive operations for the present, and
if these are to be deferred , it is clear that the ſtaking of) heads is a measure
that may be even yet more deferred . As regards the head now in custody,
when this is forwarded to Canton , it had better be stated in the memorandum
forwarded with it , that it was taken by my relation Cheung -chan -mei (that he
may get the credit of it) . The amount to be paid in reward can be carried to
the last year's account of money lent between you and myself. If this, however,
is any great trouble to you, there is no occasion to press it. Cheung-king-san
(a Mandarin distinguished in Kwang -si three or four years ago) has already had
the kindness to recommend my relation Cheung, and if this instance be added to
the former, his credit will be increased .
In addition to the payment made by me on the 13th February into the
District City Fund , for the support of the braves, I made a further payment
of 2,000 dollars on the 24th February, and another of 1,000 dollars on the
2nd March


Inclosure 12 in No. 1 .

Chan -tsce- tin to Chan -kwei -tsih .

( Translation .) March 7, night.
I SENT Man -tsap -shin to you to -day at noon. At 6 this evening, I sent
a man to Victoria to spy: he has returned with information that Duddell's store ,
in the Ha-wan , had been burned with upwards of 1,000 peculs of flour therein ,
several score of casks of biscuits , twenty or thirty barrels of spirits , and other
articles of consumption. A devil was burned to death in this fire, which is not
yet extinguished. There was so much flour that it was difficult to get the
fames under . As soon as the fire broke out, the English devils fired some guns ,
and knocked down the Christian church by the side (of the bakery ). The
barracks to the left of it, and the powder magazine, were guarded by several
hundred devil soldiers , who planted cannon for their protection. The spy) saw
with his own eyes that the building burned was Duddell's store and not the
great devil building (Government House or the ofices ). Ever since the closing
of the Heung -shan man , Cheung -alum's bread -shop, the greater portion of the
devils soldiers' rations have been ordered of Duddell. This is why he had so
much flour in store . The burning of supplies as on this occasion is a more
successful measure than the interdict itself .
It is said that a few days ago three devil men -of-war came in with 1,000
and odd English (red haired) devil soldiers on board, and that yesterday arms
were issued to them . I have not ascertained whether there is any devil design
(in this) or not. Wang-sui-shang's undertaking on the night of The
the res
5tht
March failed , and being discovered , two of his underlings were seized .
escaped to Cowloon . It is a great pity that this enterprise should have failed ,
as it has, through the dilatoriness of Wang -sui-shang.
 9

Yesterday a spy reported that supplies are privily sent from Shui-chun
chung, on account of Ho-tsai-luk of Hong Kong, who has a boat armed with
four muskets . He makes ordinarily 100 dollars on a run to or fro, by the
carriage of bullocks and poultry. This run to and fro now stands him in 120
taels ready money.
Ho -tsai-luk is the head of the villains. The way to take him would be to
send people to lie in wait at the water -side, until his vessel came out ; success
would then be certain , and were this man taken , the supplies would be cut off,
without any interdict being necessary. However , I do not venture to undertake
this on my own responsibility, or until I have represented its expediency. The
supply of provisions from the Sha-yu -chung (Shark's Bay) is increasing. I am
going to detach a vessel from Sha-tin , to cruize off the place. There are
some water-braves in my camp, whom I can detach without inconvenience to
Ch.-k .-chow. It is also a place inland (within my range.)
(Application for powder, &c . )

Inclosure 13 in No. 1 .

Chan -kwei - tsih to Chan -isse -tin .

( Translation .) Morning of the 21st February.
THE proposal respecting the gunpowder * (poison ) is very important. A
reward of from 500 to 600 dollars may be given . Three days will be the time
allowed, and notice is to be given beforehand. If the introduction of the powder
(poison ) is successful , it will be rewarded .
The lists of the train-bands of the sis wards and the nine wards (or confe
deracies) have been forwarded by the hand of Yu-ke-nin . Every camp or
station having now its full complement, a hundred ormore, there is no vacancy
to be filled up. I will write to you separately regarding the proposed reduction
of the braves, and you can act accordingly.
I hear that the rebellious barbarians are spreading a report that between
the 28th of this moon and the 2nd of next (22nd to 25th February ), they will
attack the District City, and I am making arrangements for its defence.
Postscript 1.-The banners for the trainbands, and the circular badges for
their dresses, will be finished in a few days , and shall be sent.
Postscript 2. — I send a jar of rice and one of powder.
Postscript 3. — If among the fifty-six volunteers you propose to disband,
there be any available men, the propriety of retaining some ten or so may be
taken into consideration .


Inclosure 14 in No. 1 .

Tan -chin -yung ( supposed to be a Pa-tsung, or Ensign, of the Cowloon establish
ment) to Chan - han - tsun (supposed to be Chan -tsze-tin ).

( Translation .)
Compliments. March ( ?).
WITH reference to the affair which was to have come off yesterday , they
(the parties) were to have set to work on the 10th (5th March ?) , but there are five
barbarians belonging to the steamer ; and on the evening in question, the
servants (or persons concerned),, after giving them their tea, had gone ashore in
different parties, and having obtained the powder, were approaching the vessel,
when one of the barbarians who was reading in the cabin, and had not drunk his
tea, hearing the boat coming, fired upon her. The party tied to the shore,
and so the matter fell through . The bartarian at once gave information, and
search being immediately made for the people concerned, they are now in prison
awaiting their trial. I do not know what admissions they have made ; when
* The word " yo " ( Cantonese " yeuk ”) may stand either for “ ho yo," powder, or “ yo tsai,”
medicine; and the expression “ fu yo," a liitle farther on , for introduction of one or the other.
The teacher inclines to refer it to powder.
C 2
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I do I will let you know . There are still, however, four of the parties at
Cowloon, who, now that the plot has failed, have no ground to stand on .*
They know Victoria well, and have a large number of adherents in whom they
have perfect confidence ( interlined ), all of them persons employed in the steamers
or in barbarian residences.
Should you be contemplating another attempt on the barbarian buildings
with them , there is no objection ; but they want to go to their homes. I have
detained then here (Hong Kong or Cow -loon ), and have desired the four, viz. ,
Lam -fuk -bing, Lam -atak , Lam-aluk , and Wong-atsoi, to go to you (with this note).
If you have any purpose to the achievement of which they may be of service, I
hope you will pay and ration them as braves; that they may have whereupon
to subsist, and be at your disposal for any object you may hereafter wish to
carry out.


Inclosure 15 in No. 1 .

Chan-kwei-tsih to Chan - tsze - tin.

(Translation.) March 24.
I SENT you a letter on the 22nd instant , and a jar of powder which I
presume you will have received .
The District City is well prepared, and forthe last two days there has been
no intelligence of any movement upon it. I am told that in the (enemy's)
attack on Tung -chung, ten or more were killed by the villagers. They (the
enemy) have further brought over to Cowloon seventy -two outlaws (rebels or
pirates), from which it is to be inferred no harm will come to Cowloon ; still
less will (the enemy) venture to come to the District City itself.
On the 21st , a devil's head was brought in . This is the fourth victory
announced .
Fung -chou (the Tse mentioned before) is a man of whom you must be
very careful, &c.


Inclosure 16 in No. 1 .

Chan -kwei-tsih to Chan -tsze- tin .

( Translation .) March 29, night.
ON the 29th March (to-day) I received your letter. I have consulted with
Tse on the proposal made by Tang. I think that the price (of the feat he
proposes) has been reduced at Canton , and I do not know exactly how much it
is at present. But if he succeeds , whatever is allowed by the Government shall
certainly be given , and if the sum be short I will make up the 1,000 dollars for
him , and will also apply for aa Mandarin button for him . I will assuredly keep
my promise. But he must bring ( the vessel) into the shoal water in front of
. -

Sha -tsing (where the writer , Chan -kwei-tsih , resides )-- (interlined ) —— if he can
manage this he need not set her on fire ; and on his making a signal from the
masthead, I will have aa fishing junk (or juuks ) ready to go out to meet her, and
if she coul
to assist in bringing her in (interlined );; fixed
When he has
d be warped up to Man -chou
his time for certain , he must give
it would be better still .
me four days' notice that I may have the fishing junk waiting ready somewhere
above Fuk -yung
The money and merchandise on board shall all go to the captors, but
devils and flags, muskets, telescopes , letters and arms, must be given up (to
>


Government).

Postscript.---On the 26th they brought in a black devil. I have not yet
reported his capture.
On the 28th I had the twelve devils removed to the Wan -lam pawnshop
there to be kept. This is the Governor-General's idea (or pleasure ).
* i. e ., before the Governor-General , or superiors generally, are ashamed to appear.
 11
No. 2 .

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.- (Received June 8.)
My Lord, Hong Kong, April 24 , 1857.
I HAVE the honour to forward to your Lordship copy of a Report made
by Mr. Chinese Secretary Wade to the Acting Colonial Secretary, as the inclo
sures which accompany it throw much light on our present relations with the
adjacent Chinese continent.
I forward also copy of a Memorandum made by Mr. Wade, on the
subject of papers seized by the expedition under the command of Commodore
Elliot, to which I referred in my despatch of the 14th instant.
An outline plan of the district of San-on, drawn by Mr. Wade, is also
inclosed herewith .
I have, &c.
(Signed) JOHN BOWRING .




Inclosure 1 in No 2 .

Mr. Wade to the Acting Colonial Secretary ,

Chinese Secretary's Office, Hong Kong,
Sir, April 19 , 1855 .
I HAVE the honour to acquaint you, for the information of his Excellency
the Governor, that I have examined two boxes of papers and a small parcel and
Chinese letter, found in two houses at Stanley by Mr. Caldwell, and by him
forwarded to me.
The boxes contain little of interest. In one, the yellow one, are a number
of letters from Tsang -kwei, who appears to have been serving with the Impe
rialist army at Nankin in 1853-54, to his uncle Tsang-sheung-tat , who I believe
is employed by the Colonial Government in some way at Stanley, and to other
persons residing at Stanley. It is curious that one of these was directed to the
care of Mr. Caldwell himself.
In the other box, the black one, are two caps such as are worn in the
winter by mandarins or their followers, a rude knife or dagger in a leather
sheath, and aá few papers, of which one is certainly Triad, and another apparently
a list of a piratical contederacy , whose rendezvous or point of detachment has
been Tung-chung, on Lan -tao, the spot recently visited by the Honourable East
India Company's steamer “ Auckland.”
There are, besides, in both boxes, a mass of account books, accounts, leases
or mortgages , and similar documents, so far as I can judge of no special
importance.
I inclose translation of the Chinese letter, with such preliminary remarks
as I have deemed it necessary to make ; also translation of a note found with
the articles contained in the small parcel before mentioned .
I have, &c.
(Signed) THOMAS WADE ,
Chinese Secretary.




Inclosure 2 in No. 2 .

Translation of Chinese Document scized at Stanley, in Hong Kong, April 1857.
[ THE Chinese letter forwarded by Mr. Caldwell purports to be from Chan
kwei-tsih, the San -on graduate, several of whose letters to his brother fel linto
 12

the hands of the cupedition commanded by Commodore the Honourable C
Elliot last week . These being in my possession, I compared the writing in five
of them with that of the letter translated below. Of the five, four very much
resemble each other in character ; the fifth differs from the four sufficiently to
produce the impression at first sight that it is by a different pen . The letter
seized by Mr. Caldwell did not seem to me, either in style or character, to
resemble any of the other's exactly ; but it has a postscript which, it struck me,
was in the same hand as the fifth above adverted to ; and after aa little examina.
tion , without, to the best of my belief, any remark of mine to the same effect, a
competent teacher, who had already expressed great doubt as to the identity of
the handwriting in the body of the letter, observed that that of the postscript
was identical with the handwriting of the fifth .
It is to be observed that the postscript is written expressly to explain why
Chan -kwei -tsil's seal is not employed.
On the other hand, the place from which the cover of the letter states it to
have been sent, Sha-tsing, is known to be the residence of Chan -kwei -tsih . It
seems, therefore, singular that he should not have had aa seal within reach, even
supposing him to have been at the city of San -on, where the letters seized last
week show him to pass much of his time as Chief of the Committee of Anti
Barbarian Hostilities. It is also remarkable that the latter is dated the 10th
April, namely , four days after the destruction of his junk fleet by Commodore
Elliot. lle is reported to have collected this with some difficulty, and to be
now much embarrassed by applications from the owners of the vessels destroyed
to replace them : yet he here ofiers to lay an embargo on junks to support his
assassins in the undertaking projected. Lastly, the reward offered is unusually
and almost incredibly large.
The letter is written by some one suficiently accustomed to the use of the
pen, but at the same time so partially educated as to misemploy several charac.
ters . He is probably some dealer or shopman ; not a man of literary pretension .
If Chan-kwei-tsih were cognizant of the letter, and his postscript I confess leaves
me little doubt on this point, it is , I think, to be assumed that it is purposely
written in another hand and sealed with another seal than his, either with a view
to securing himself a retreat, should the doing of the deed, as in the case of
Senhor Amaral, bring after it aa greater train of consequences than its instiga
tors anticipated, or to facilitate his future evasion of a claim which our accounts
of the District Exchequer do not lead to suppose it in a condition to satisfy.
(Signed) THOMAS WADE ,
Chinese Secretary.]
The cover of the letter bears on its front :
“ ( This) important letter is given (to the bearer) to be delivered into the
hands of Chan -a -tsun of the police station at Chik -chu (Stanley).”
On the reverse :

“ The expense of the postage is defrayed at Sha-tsing of San -on . The
name (of the writer) is given within ."
Within :

" The matter (before us) being one of perfect secresy, namely, the projec
tion of measures with hearts in concert and strength united for the death of the
Fan-kwei, superfluous language is not enployed . ( That is to say, the writer
apologises for dispensing with the compliments usual at the beginning of notes
in private correspondence.)
“ I have to state, gentlemen , that as you have undertaken to execute the
measures for the seizure and extermination of the barbarians, considered by you
with the officer deputed yesterday ( or recently) to wait on you, I write this note
to request particularly that you will lose no time about the matter. But you
really have the power, if you could perform the service of taking the heads of
Sam-kwei (Mr. Caldwell) and Kanna-kin (Colonel Caine) you should be recom
pensed with 50,000 dollars, a bution of the sixth grade, and a dark feather.*
The Emperor's edict says, “ Exterminate all the barbarians of Hong Kong. '
Sam -kwei and Akin are the only two in Hong Kong who know all about the
* These words are marked in the original by circles, which correspond to our underlinings.
 13

Chinese, but they have a number of police stationed about who keep so strict a
watch that I should have thought there was a difficulty in cutting them ( Colonel
Caine, &c. ,) off. You say, however, gentlemen, that it is in your power to cut
off Sam-kwei and Akin , ( if which be so) it appears to me that the extermina
tion of all in Hong Kong, were it required, would be as casy as taking anything
out of one's purse by putting one's hand in. Besides, (one of you ) being Ti-po,
(and another') in charge of the devil buildings of the barbarians , you must be had
in great respect by the barbarians, and must have, I assume, access, against
which they take no precaution, to the buildings of the devils. Success would be
certain were your attack made when they were unprepared and not expecting it.
It is said, too, that these men are in the habit of going to Chik -chu (Stanley)
and walking about there for recreation .