presses, great grief at the suffering caused by floods in Honan, where the Yellow River has burst its banks in the subprefecture of Cheng Chou a little above Kaifeng Fu. The serious nature of the calamity has robbed Her Majesty the Empress Mother of Loth sleep and appetite. She desires the Emperor to furnish the Governor of Honan with a hundred thousand taels from the accumulated savings of the privy purse, in order that he may distribute relief to the sufferers in his own province and in the neighbouring province of Anhui, The governor is desired to select officers of ability, who will give their most earnest endeavours to the task, and will take care that no corruption is practised. Every day that is saved in relieving the unfortunate people will spare His Majesty a day of pangs.
Nore.—According to information received from Chinese sources it appears that the water escaped from the Yellow River has run into the Ju River, which at Cheng Chou is very near the Yellow River. From the Ju River its conveyed through Anhui into the Huai River and eventually enters the sea at the old mouth of the Yellow River near Huai-an Fu in Kiangsu, or else follows the course of the Grind Canal southwards from Huai-an Fu till it enters the Yangtsze somewhere between Chinkiang and the coast.)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.