Wu's alarms in the North and the possible collapse of the Chinese Government have not quite diverted our attention from the work of commercial development. in South China, Her Majesty's gunboat Sundp per left Wachou on the 13: h instant, on a trial voyage up to Nanning. Mr. Little, British Consul at Samshui, was board, As the river is navigated by lane carya boats drawing from two to four feet of water up to Nanoing, and the stream must now be swollen by the recent rains, there should be_no difficulty in the Sandpiper reaching Nanning, Up to Hsunch. there are no serious impediments to navigation, and beyond that town the only important obstacle is the "10-mile rapid," which is really three miles long, studded with danger rous tocks, most of which are now probably covered with water. These rapids are about 15) miles from Nanning. As the cargo junks successfully negotiate them there iS no reason why steamers should not do so.
Hongkong, 16th June.
'THE WEATHER, After a short spell of cool and dry weather, as grateful as it was unusiel in June, high wind got up on Thursday evening which subsequently turned to ta and we had a heavy downpour this morning since when the thermometer has gone up steadily and the old damp sticky days have returned. For a few days, however, it was certainly most delightful to have the glass down to about 73 or 74° Fahr, and a feeling of dryness in the atmosphere to which we are usually strangers during our
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.