chu named Tan Kin, having held the The prefect of this place, a friendly Man-office for two terms consecutively, went up last June to Peking, report says well laden, to secure reappointment. His offering has evidently been acceptable, as he is now on his way back. Mr. Tan is an agreeable man, and we are glad to hear of his return, though the office Of prefect seems, here at least, to be rather a fifth wheel to the Imperial Coach. To native affairs, the Governor usually sends his mandates down to his own appointees, ie, the various ' chihsien; while foreign affairs are managed (?) by the Taotai at Chefoo. With an institution that has so many fifth wheels as the Chinese Empire, one more or less is, of course, of little moment, though bad the Emperors plan for abolishing useless offices been carried out Kang Yi's trip South would probably have been unnecessary.
14th September.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.