Apropos of my recent despatch telling you that the C, I. Mission ladies, Misses Darroch and Sharp, were reported as being in the mountains, held prison®rs by Fan Ming-hsin's bandits, I am now in a position to confirm this.
The Rev. L. S. Joyce, Director of the C. I. M. for this province has been hot-on-foot after the brigands, and reports under date of the 14th inst that the brigands were located some 50 miles west of the city of Paofeng. Yesterday another message was received by the British Vice-Consul from Rev. David Vikuer of Paofeng, with whom Mr. Joyce has been the staying since getting into that western district, which reads as follows "Brigands have gained the mountains, and demand as their condition (for the release of the ladies) that they be enrolled into the army. Position of the ladies unsatisfactory in the ex-if This but bears out what we have been surmising all along, and it now depends upon the military executive of the district whether this condition will be met. Tt is not unknown that General Wu
condition, will not feel like meeting this In my despatch of yesterday T informed yon that rumours were rife that the men under Lao Yang-jen, situated in the Kueiteh Prefecture were being disarmed by the men of Generals Wu and Chang. The Military Governor denies this report in the local press. A few days will be sufficient to establish the truth of the reports.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.