Under these circumstances nothing remained but to visit the provincial capital, and interview the Foreign Bureau, _although it was certain that it was imnossible to bring any pressure upon it, as the Governments of Great Britain and the United States took no interest in the matter whatever, and the former bad absolutely forbidden its Consuls to lift 2 finger towards helping in the adjustment. Under these circumstances how was anything to be expected? Yet the intelligent and capable Taotai at the head of the Bureau (Mr. 8. ¥. Tang, nephew of the late T'ang King-sing) offered thirty per cent of the claims of the Chinese, and everything asked for as claims for th foreigners in full, and, after a consultation with Governor Yuan Shih-lai, consented to raise the amount to thirty-five per cent. This, to be sure, was far below the desires of the managers of the affair, set they were to some extent in the rosie tion of the farmer who remarked that his pig did not weigh as much as he expected snd he knew if wouldn't! The same Deputy who had returned to Chinanfu in a helpless condition a few days before, was now sent out again armed with the orders of the Governor to pay down certain specified sums, and the physician who had undertaken to prescribe for the cases started once more on a round with him, the Deputy confidently affirming that this time there was to be no interruption. and all wes to go amoothlr—a prophecy which was received by the knowing ones with the remark that old birds are of to be captured with the innutritious husks of grain, and other cynical generalisations. The first county to be attacked was P'ingyuan, where the sum was relatively large, and here the first thorn-bush Was run into, in the violation of the explicit promise of the Deputy that the previous doles should not be deducted from the 35 per cent.
Certain Payments.
_He now said that the Taotai had given him final instructions about this particular county, but that the deduction should not occur anywhere else, "or my surname is not Yin." Under the awe inspired by this oath the physician gave way and the contract was signed. Within the next eight days the foreign and the Chinese Deputies made a circuit of the counties of Enks Kaot'angchou, Chiibp'ing, Pop'ing, Ch'ingp'ing, Lincb'ing-chou, and Hsiachin, in every instance the sums being immediately signed for and the dates of-payment fixed, in all but one case (where the official is newly in office) all the payments—either two or three—being before the Chinese New Year. The magistrate of Eahsien, being of a humourous turn of mind. has named the 30th day of the last moon for the final payment!!! In addition to the counties named, smaller sums were arranged for by letter and dispatches in the counties of Liaoch'eng (Tungeh'angfu), Tangi, and Wuch'eng—the official of the latter city being fortun nately encountered on the way to take up his post. During the whole period there was not a hitch of any kind, the only unpleasant incident being the' circumstance that one of the Linch'ing soldiers, sent as a guard of honour for the Doctor, while trying to steady the cart, at an unspeakably bad place in the road fell under the wheels, and had one or more of his ribs crushed by the heavy wheel, the air oozing out of his lungs into his dirty jacket. He was carried to the city and examined by the physician and will probably recover.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.