How come to Peking to have audience. Let K'i Yuan act as Military Governor of Sheng kings and Civil Governor of Féngtien. Ssu Lo-pu will perform the actin; duties of Vice-President of the Board of Punishments at Sheng-king, in addition to his other functions.
(2) With the exception of two short memorials on matters of official routine, the remainder of this day's Gazette is occupied by a long and minute report from Ting Pao-cheng, Governor-General of Szech'wan, reporting the capture at different periods of the leaders of several notorious ands of salt smugglers, who have for many years past been a terror to the province, and the dispersion of their followers. He commences his report by explaining that smugglers of salt abound in the complicated network of water-ways that is spread over the eastern portion of Szech'wan. Of late years their numbers and operations have been greatly extended, the members being leagued together under a solemn oath, an having an understanding with the local banditti; setting the authorities completely at defiance and resisting all attempts at capture. So formidable in fact did they become, that their speedy extermination became a matter of imperative necessity, if serious trouble in the future was to be avoided. The names of the most. prominent of these smugglers, and the field of their operations, was known to the authorities; some of ther Tan Urh and Feng Wat of banditti as well, and had pursued their practices for a period of more than ton years, during which time they had got together gangs varying from one or two thousand to several hundred in number, all provided with firearms and heavy guns as well as weapons of other sorts which were a terror to the people, an whom the authorities dared not molest. Repeated efforts were made by former Governors-General to exterminate them, but for the past eight years not asi capture has been made. At last, in commencement of last year they became 50 formidable that it was felt that something must be done, and the acting Governor, Wen Koh, sent out troops to attack them. Memorialist, soon after his arrival, received a report from him to the effect that the band of T'an Urh and Feng Wang had been attacked at a place in the Ho-kiang district, where they had taken up a strong position in a house and the yard or compound surrounding it; after a desperate fight, during which firearms were freely discharged on buth sides, and many of the troops were wounded, the enemy were at last driven from their position by stinkpots, and rushed forth in a body upon our men. 'A desperate hand-to-hand encounter then ensued, lasting for over six hours, during which ninety-three of the enemy were killed, eight of the more prominent leaders captured alive, and thirty-eight other prisoners taken, with ninety-seven weapons of various Kinds; a sergeant of militia and some others were also rescued. The leaders, Tan Urh and Feng Wang, managed to escape, and it was requested that orders might be given for their pursuit and capture. Memorialist, feeling that as long as these men remained at large, a continual sense of insecurity must exist in the province, and recognising at the same time the craft and ferocity of their followers, gave orders to the Taotai of the Yung-ning circuit. to call out the military and trainbands in his jurisdiction and surround them on every
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.