CHINA. 



115 



though it is better than that of the army. The 

 crews have been drilled in European fashion, and 

 are expert sailors. One of the torpedo boats is 

 the fast steamer " Yarrow," built on the Thames 

 in 1887, which is to serve as a model for others to 

 be built in the dock-yard at Foochow. The flag- 

 ship is the " Ting- Yuen," launched at Stettin in 

 1882, a first-class armored frigate of the type of 

 the German man-of-war " Sachsen," with a dis- 

 placement of 7,430 tons, engines of 6,200 horse- 

 power, protected with compound armor, and 

 armed with 4 12-inch Krupp breech-loading 

 guns in two turrets. The " Chen- Yuen " is a sis- 

 ter ship, exactly similar in every point. The 

 " Ching-Yuen " and the " Chih- Yuen," built at 

 the Armstrong works in 1889, are of steel, with 

 2,300 tons displacement and 17 feet draught, 

 and are d-riven by double sets of triple-expansion 

 engines of 6,500 horse-power, giving a speed of 

 18 knots. The inclined protective deck is 2 to 4 

 inches thick. The armament consists of 2 8- 

 inch Krupp guns in the fore part and 1 aft, with 

 2 6-inch Armstrong breech-loading guns, 4 tor- 

 pedo tubes, and numerous Hotchkiss and Gat- 

 ling guns. The " Lai- Yuen " and " King- Yuen," 

 built at Stettin, are likewise protected by bulk- 

 heads and deck armor. Their engines, of 5.000 

 horse-power, can steam 15 knots an hour. They 

 are armed with 2 Krupp 8i-inch guns mounted 

 on a turn-table in a barbette and 2 6-inch guns 

 on carriages amidships, with Whitehead torpedo 

 tubes and an auxiliary armament like the other 

 1 cruisers. The gunboats of the more modern type 

 i are capable of steaming 12 knots. The northern 

 i squadron is the only really efficient fleet that the 

 I Chinese Government possesses. The necessary 

 j arsenals and repairing docks have been con- 

 j structed to keep it in a state of efficiency. The 

 i Nan- Yang squadron, or squadron of the south, 

 j consists of 2 fast steel cruisers built in Germany 

 and 2 built in China, 1 large, swift gunboat with 

 twin screws, 4 older gunboats, and two monitors, 

 all heavily armed with Armstrong or Krupp 

 I breech-loaders and machine guns. The Foochow 

 ! squadron consists of 9 steel cruisers, of from 

 i 1.300 to 2,400 tons, 3 large gunboats, 9 dispatch 

 I boats, 4 armed transports, and 2 new torpedo 

 j boats. The Canton flotilla, designed chiefly to 

 i suppress piracy on the rivers, numbers 17 fast- 

 i sailing gunboats, with 20 or more torpedo 

 launches for harbor protection. The defects of 

 the army form the subject of a recent rescript 

 of the young Emperor, in which he complains of 

 the unnecessary costliness of the maintenance 

 of the troops, and says that false reports have 

 been sent in regarding their number and pay ; 

 and that he has heard that the generals and 

 officers lead an indolent life, that reviews are sel- 

 dom held, and that the whole organization has 

 fallen into decay. The Manchu generals, vice- 

 roys, and governors of provinces are commanded 

 henceforward to keep a constant supervision over 

 the troops under their command, and to send to 

 the Emperor lists of the officers and exact re- 

 ports of the number of soldiers, both regular and 

 irregular. The rifles and Krupp cannon supplied 

 to the forces in Manchuria are to a great extent 

 useless from neglect. In the Amur district 1,000 

 mutineers seized the town of Lan-pei-Tuan and 

 raided the surrounding country in the autumn 

 of 1889. The Manchu general sent a force of 



infantry and cavalry against them, which was 

 beaten in two fights. The commanding officer 

 was killed, and many of the soldiers deserted to 

 the insurgents. 



Rebellion in Formosa. In Formosa a for- 

 midable rebellion of the native tribes broke out 

 in the autumn of 1889 which taxed the military 

 resources of the energetic Governor Liu, and he 

 adopted cruel measures to frighten the fierce 

 mountaineers into subjection, offering a reward 

 for the head of every Bhotan delivered to his 

 officers. Disturbances in the mountainous east- 

 ern half of the island, which is inhabited by the 

 aborigines, have become chronic of late years. 

 A serious revolt of the southern tribes was sup- 

 posed to have been amicably settled, when the 

 tribes of the northeast rose, and an expedition 

 that was sent against them was compelled to re- 

 turn, having suffered severely both from the 

 enemy and from disease. The general who com- 

 manded was degraded for having lost not only 

 many troops, but some of the guns. One of the 

 colonels was beheaded for having stolen the pay 

 of the soldiers. Soon after their return to Tam- 

 sui the tribes of the south advanced in force on 

 the city of Hung-Cheng, the chief magistrate 

 having imprisoned two of their chiefs after peace 

 had been concluded. He promptly surrendered 

 the captives and feasted the besiegers, but sent 

 after they were gone for troops. An army was 

 dispatche'd by land and in vessels, armed with 

 rifles and with a supply of rockets, under a 

 general who promised to sweep the country of 

 savages clear to the sea. The Chinese have here- 

 tofore been unable to hold their own in the con- 

 flicts with the natives, who have extended their 

 borders and have only been induced to remain 

 within them by heavy bribes. 



Opening of the Upper Yang-tse. The Eng- 

 lish have claimed under the Chefoo Convention 

 the right of direct commercial intercourse with 

 the upper Yangtse valley, and demanded the 

 opening of a treaty port for that purpose. The 

 right being conditional on the navigability of 

 the river for steam vessels, a company was formed 

 by a merchant named Archibald Little for the 

 purpose of proving its navigability by having a 

 steamer specially designed to ascend the rapids. 

 The Chinese officials, fearing the popular out- 

 breaks and complications of various kinds that 

 would result if foreign steamers should appear 

 suddenly on the internal waters of the empire, 

 refused to countenance the experiment, and the 

 owners feared to take their vessel up the river in 

 defiance of the authorities, knowing that without 

 their protection it would be exposed to attacks 

 from the boatmen and other inhabitants of the 

 shores. The objection that weighed most in the 

 minds oT the Pekin officials was that steamboats 

 would not only compete with the people who 

 make their living by river transportation, but 

 would render their occupation more dangerous, 

 as the current is so swift that some of the junks 

 that crowd the river in descending would be 

 carried against the steamboats and crushed or 

 upset. The British minister made light of these 

 apprehensions ; yet when the Chinese Govern- 

 ment finally agreed to grant the permission, on 

 the condition that persons whose property was 

 destroyed by collisions of that nature should be 

 indemnified, the company refused to be held re- 



