A proclamation in "Chinese issued by the Germun Admiral has been handed to us, a translation of which we give below "Von Diederichs, Commander-in-chief of the Imperial German Eastern Fleet, hereby issues the following proclamation "Be it know to all concerned that I have come in obedience to the commands of my sovereign, H. I. M. the German Emperor, who has instructed me to land at Kiaochou Bay at the head of my forces, and seize the said Bay and all the islands and dependencies thereof. Having performed this duty it now behoves me to lanark out the boundaries of the region held by me which are as follows "(1) From a straight line drawn from the seashore to the eastern hill to a spot distant, at high water mark, 18 li from "(2) From thence a straight line drawn northwards to the Likin station at Ta-pot'éng: thence back of this to the meeting of the waters of the Kisochou river and the Taku river.—Note: Taku' means Great **(3) From thence eastwards to the seashore as far as an imaginary line cutting Laoshan Bay in the middle.
"(4) The eastern line commences from a northerly point to the midway point of Laoshan Bay, thence southwards as far as the shores of the island of Kuanti Miav, Tsalien island, ete.
Note—The colloquial term for Laoshan Bay is Zaowan or Lao Bay which is also used in this proclamation—Translator.
(5) The southern line is drawn from Tealien island to the southern point of Tiloshan island.
"(6) From the north it is drawn to the seashore on the western side where the two places meet.
"The above noted places and the area comprised within are to be held by the German forces, until the ase of the murder of our German missionaries in Shantung be settled.
"In consideration of the above, therefore, I find it necessary to exhort you all, viz: the inhabitants of Tsingtao island and dependencies thereof, to peaceably continue your several vocations and avoid listening to the words of the disreputable and rowdy classes to create disturbances. As a matter of fact Germany and China have always been friendly and at peace, and formerly when China was at war with Japan, Germany used her utmost efforts to resewte China from har dilemma. This was to prove our friendship asa neighhouring Power.
We are now here not as enemies of China, hence you need not hesitate and entertain suspicions about us. Moreover, it will be the duty of the German_ officers to protect the law-abiding inhabitants of this place in order to preserve the peace. But if there be any discontented characters who shall endeavour to create disturbances, they shall surely he dealt with according to Chinese laws to extreme extent (i.e., beheaded—Trunslefor). Further, if any German subjects here be killed the murderers will be dealt with according to Gennan military law, (el. shot—Translator). Hence I consider it my duty to earnestly exhort all to abstain from breaking the peace, and avail sisting whatever the German authorities shall decide to do hereafter here. You should calculate the exigencies of the case, fand you will see that you are too weak! to resist. Not only will you find it to be of no advantage to you, but you will find! that you will have invited destruction upon 2s. 9d. per bottle. Beware of worthless imita—you yourselves.
"'Furthermore, be it known that where German troops shall be encamped, Chinese officials will still be permitted to go on with their usual duties, But if in the future these Chinese officials should receive orders from their superiors which they should find. beyond their powers, they should communicate the circumstances to the German Governor, General Chu (2). or to Brigadier-General T'sai (1). As for the buying or selling of land hereafter, permission should first be obtained from. the Governor to become legal. Let all obey. An important Proclamation, Lith day of November, 1897, (Imperiut German Reckoning). 21st day, 11th moon, 23rd year of Kuang Hsii—(Chinese Reckon= ing).
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.