160 



CHINA. 



take possession of the country north of the Yel- 

 low River, and to occupy the unwalled city of 

 Chung-sing, situated near the junction of the 

 river with the Grand Canal. The Imperialists 

 sought to prevent the N"ien-fei from gaining 

 possession of the canal, and thereby inter- 

 rupting the direct communication with Pekin. 

 They succeeded in driving them from this im- 

 portant position, and then guarded the right 

 bank of the Huang-ho, thus protecting the 

 wealthy cities in the Kiang-peh. San-ko-lin- 

 sin, the commanding general of the Chinese 

 army, was, however, killed in battle, and was 

 succeeded by Tsing-Kuo-Fan, who, it was 

 thought, would prove, as a general, greatly 

 inferior to his predecessor. The rebels derived 

 great strength from the presence of three re- 

 nowned leaders, viz., Miao, a son of the late 

 Miao Pei-ling, Chang, a son of the equally re- 

 nowned Chang Lo-hsing, and Shen, a son of the 

 Manchow She-n Pao, who was executed in 1864 

 for corrupt practices in Shan-si. In May and 

 June the Nien-fei obtained many successes in 

 Shantung, and pressed on as far as the left bank 

 of the Huang-ho (Yellow River). In July they 

 advanced, in conjunction with bands of Taipings 

 and of Mohammedans, to within 200 miles of 

 Pekin, and at one time were even reported to 

 have captured that city. This report was, how- 

 ever, not confirmed ; but they were driven off 

 by the Imperialist troops, and their power in 

 the latter part of the year considerably de- 

 creased. 



In the latter months of the year acts of piracy 

 along the coast of China became very frequent 

 and troublesome to the foreign commerce. 

 Among the vessels captured by the pirates was 

 the Hamburg vessel J. H. Bockleman, and a 

 Prussian bark, Fohkien, owed her escape only 

 to the fortunate circumstance of another vessel 

 heaving in sight. Of the boldness of the pirates 

 and the inability of the Chinese Government to 

 stop their operations, the "Overland China 

 Mail " of Hong Kong speaks as follows : " They 

 have the best information, have well-manned 

 boats, armed in a very efficient manner, safe 

 harbors of refuge, excellent markets for their 

 plunder, and such an amount of voluntary or 

 enforced cooperation from the petty mandarins, 

 soldiers, and coast populations, that they are 

 everywhere certain of assistance, and, if needs 

 be, of support. We have further in these reve- 

 lations the most convincing proofs of the utter 

 powerlessness of the Chinese naval squadrons to 

 effect any thing against the pirate fleets, even 

 when spurr-ed into motion by the remonstrances 

 of our consuls, or shamed into a momentary 

 display of energy and courage by the presence 

 and cooperation of our gunboats. So numerous, 

 so powerful, and so well-informed, too, have 

 the pirates become, that the gunboats them- 

 selves, generally so successful, have begun to 

 return baffled and without success. The atten- 

 tion of the Chinese Government must sooner or 

 later be called to this matter." 



The only remedy, it was thought, for the 



CHOLERA, ASIATIC. 



present, could be found in arming every vessel. 

 In November several gunboats attacked a fleet 

 of piratical vessels, destroying ten craft and 

 capturing a lorcha. 



An Imperial decree, of April 3d, announced 

 that Prince Kung was degraded and deprived 

 of his appointment for corruption and for dis- 

 respect toward the Emperor. His disgrace was 

 unconnected with the foreign policy, and in 

 May he was reinstated in the Foreign Board. 



Mr. Robert Hart, the Inspector-General of 

 Customs at Hong Kong, obtained in 1865 from 

 the Government of Pekin a concession in favor 

 of ship-owners which cannot fail to be of the 

 greatest advantage to foreign merchants. Under 

 the new arrangement the natives of China are 

 permitted to purchase foreign vessels, and to 

 sail them under the Chinese flag. It may, 

 therefore, soon be expected that the unwieldy 

 Chinese junks will be set aside for foreign ships, 

 manned by foreign seamen, and commanded by 

 foreign captains. The effect of this highly ad- 

 vantageous concession on the part of the Pekin 

 Government will thus be to give new facilities 

 for the carrying on of the coasting trade along 

 an immense range of the Chinese seaboard. 



In August a treaty of commerce between 

 China and Holland was ratified. 



The letters of the Roman Catholic mission- 

 aries in China mention a great religious move- 

 ment as taking place at present among all the 

 population of that vast empire. Hundreds of 

 villages, they say, are becoming converted to 

 Catholicism, but the number of missionaries is 

 quite insufficient to gather in the abundant 

 harvest. The bishops of China have, therefore, 

 made an earnest appeal to the devotedness of 

 the Catholic priests in Europe to aid in the con- 

 version of so many millions. Of Protestant 

 missionaries (including ladies) there were in 

 China, in 1865, one hundred and eighty-seven, 

 while over fifteen were either absent on leave 

 or on their way out to join the mission. They 

 were distributed over the various stations as 

 follows : Canton, 30 ; Hong Kong, 22 ; Swatow, 

 7; Amoy, 14; Fuhchan, 20; Ningpo, 21 ; Shang- 

 hai, 25 ; Hankow, 5 ; Chefoo, 9 ; Tungchow, 

 7; Tientsin, 11 ; and Pekin, 16. Of these, 92 

 are American, 78 are English, and 18 are Ger- 

 man. 



On October 5th a regular postal communica- 

 tion was opened between Kiakhta and Tient- 

 sin, by way of Ourga, Kalgain, and Pekin. 

 Single letters, or letters containing enclosures 

 of money or documents, as also parcels and 

 telegraphic despatches, are forwarded four times 

 a month both ways. The post leaves St. Peters- 

 burg for Kiakhta every Tuesday and Friday, and 

 reaches Kiakhta in five weeks, 



CHOLERA, ASIATIC. This disease, which 

 had three times previously during the present 

 century scourged the countries of Europe, and 

 committed terrible ravages on this continent, 

 appeared during the summer of 1865 in Arabia, 

 Turkey, and Egypt, and visited the countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean, and in the 



