404 Mr. Davids Extracts from the Peking Gazette. 



" The different stations at Peking liave distributed grain during a long 

 continued period ; but, on the 20th day of the 5th moon let tliem all be 

 shut and the distribution cease, as the stores will not admit of further do- 

 nations. The hai-vest is now approaching, and the people may return to 

 their several districts to seek a liveUhood by their own labour. Let the 

 magistrate of Shun-teen-foo, previously to the close of the distribution, make 

 known to the people daily, when they receive their grain, that they must 

 no longer tarry at the capital in a wandering and idle manner. Let Tseang- 

 j/ew-teen, governor of the province, enjoin the district officers to exercise a 

 strict vigilance, at the same time sootiiing the distressed populace, and pre- 

 venting their wandering about in a dispersed and vagabond way ; thus 

 seconding our paternal solicitude to cherish them in our bosom. 



" Kfun-tsze." 



XX in. Pecimiai-y Aid to those whose Dwefli?igs were swept down by the 

 Inundations of 1823. — Imperial Decree. 



5th moon, 19th day (15th June). 

 " Yang-mow-teen, governor of Hoo-pih province, has presented an address, 

 stating that he has surveyed the districts in which the dwellings of the 

 people suffered from inundations, and petitioning for a pecuniary grant 

 towards their repair. Four Hccn districts in the province of Hoo-pih, viz. 

 Hwang-mei, Kwang-tse, Keang-ling, and H'een-le, as well as Ke-chow-wei, 

 all of which suffered from the inundations of the last year, have been sur- 

 veyed by the said governor ; and he has found that the owners of both the 

 tiled and thatched huts which were destroyed really do not possess the 

 means of repairing them, and that they have stated nothing but the truth. 

 On these grounds he considers they are, according to custom, entitled to 

 assistance in rebuilding their dwellings. According to the tenor of his 



M. C. C. _ M. C. c. 



petition, let 5. 0. 0* be given on account of every tiled hut, and 3. 0. Ot 

 on account of every thatched one ; the sum total required being 13,06l 

 taels.t Let this sum be defrayed from the treasury as an extraordinary 

 charge. The local magistrates of the districts must forthwith proceed in 

 person and distribute the money, in order that the distressed people may 

 ^""I '■•■ 



* About 3s. 4d. sterling. f About 2s. sterling. 



J This gives above 30,000 houses or huts as the number destroyed. 



