262 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



could have been prevented or greatly 

 modified if the foreigner had behaved as a 

 gentleman should at all times. 



Proceeding from the base to the apex of 

 the administrative system, the next in 

 order, after the district, is the department, 

 which division includes several districts. 

 There are about one hundred and eighty 

 departments, and each is presided over by 

 an officer officially styled the prefect (Che- 

 fu). This is said to be the earliest division 

 of the administrative system, the duties of 

 the prefect removing him farther from the 

 people than do the duties of the magistrate, 

 and making his office the court of appeal 

 from the magistrate. 



After the department comes the circuit, 

 which is formed by the grouping of 

 several departments, and is presided over 

 by an officer whom the Chinese designate 

 as the intendant of circuit (fen sun tao or 

 taotai). To foreigners, however, the in- 

 tendant of circuit is better known as the 

 taotai, and it is this official who sustains, 

 at the treaty ports of China, the more 

 intimate relations with the consular re- 

 presentatives of western nations which 



