at. of Customs at Canton.
(3) Ch'ang-yn is re-appointed Superiuten-'September 19th.—[{No papers of interest.
LI HUNG-TSAO IN CHARGE OF THE YELLOW
September 20th.—(1) Li Hung-tso reports that he has had the honour to receive the Imperial Decree inflicting certain penilties on him for his failure to' repair the embankment of the Yellow River,. and ordering him to act as Director General until the arrival of Wu Ta-cheng from Canton. He states that when he received the despatch last January instructing him: to take charge of the Yellow River works, he immediately presented a Memorial explain ing at length the difficulty of the task. and his own unfitness for it. "Afterwards on his arrival at the river he found that there were six thousand feet of embankment to be constructed, the stock of millet stalks was only three thousand stacks, and in less than two months the river would begin to rise. The officers present moreover unanimously declared that the undertaking could not be completed in time. Helj as he felt, he set himself to the task without giving way to despair. After six months of unremitting toil, the six thousand feet of embankment were constructed, and there only remained an 0} of three hundred feet in breadth, But in the beginning of July all went wrong, and the enterprise was overwhelmed by failure just.at the moment when success seemed assured. The Memorialist is overcome by grief and disappointment. He is deeply agrteful for the merciful treatment which he has received from the Emperor and for his tom-Dante everything remains safe; but as rary appointment as Director-General. freshets occur frequently in the autumn months, it will be nec to bestow the most watchful care upon. the embankments and breakwaters, in the neighbourhood of the breach, as well as upon the river bank higher up stream.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.