124 



CHINA. 



ten years past been in the hands of insurgents. 

 It is the last remaining stronghold hitherto 

 occupied by the Mohammedans " within the 

 wall," and its recovery therefore is a matter of 

 great importance to the Imperial Government. 



In the southwestern province of Yunnan 

 the Mohammedan rebellion of the Panthays 

 had been fully suppressed in 1873. A weak 

 remainder, which had survived the downfall of 

 the empire, was crushed out in the course of 

 the year 1874. The chief, Yahsakon, when 

 the Chinese had surrounded Usar, the last 

 place held by the Panthays, fled with about 

 200 companions into a pagoda, where he was 

 compelled by hunger to surrender. He was 

 executed, with the majority of his companions, 

 and his head carried about in the province as 

 a warning. The Chinese rule in the province 

 of Yunnan is now fully reestablished. 



The efforts of the Chinese Government in 

 behalf of a suppression of the coolie-trade 



obtained toward the close of the year 1873 an 

 important success. The Portuguese Governor 

 of Macao, Count de San Januario, on December 

 27, 1873, announced in the official gazette of 

 Macao that, in virtue of a new treaty between 

 Portugal and China, the shipment of Chinese 

 coolies from Macao would be forbidden from 

 and after January 27, 1874. The measure 

 caused great excitement in Macao, as the 

 coolie-trade has been for many years the most 

 important business of this city, and more 

 than 195,000 coolies have been shipped from 

 it since 1852. The China Mail stated that 

 many brokers who had received advances had 

 their agreements canceled. The "fantan" 

 houses, with one 01 two exceptions, closed 

 their doors, and many of the barracoon-meh 

 were dismissed. It was expected that upward 

 of 300 houses were to be vacated, and some 

 40,000 persons would be thrown out of em- 

 ployment. The Chinese Government present- 



CITY OF HONG-KONG. 



ed the Governor of Macao, the master of the 

 port, and the deputy of Macao in the Portu- 

 guese Cortes, with gold medals as a mark of 

 its recognition. The stoppage of the coolie- 

 trade at Macao compelled the Government of 

 Peru, which cannot do without coolie-labor, 

 to negotiate with the Government of China a 

 treaty for the regulation of the voluntary emi- 

 gration of coolies. Aided by the representa- 

 tive of England in Peking, the envoy of Peru, 

 Garcia, succeeded in prevailing upon the Chi- 

 nese Government to order the Governor-Gen- 

 eral of Tieri-tsin, Li Hung Chang, as superin- 

 tendent of the commerce with foreign nations, 

 to conclude a treaty with Peru. The treaty 

 was completed and signed by the representa- 



tives of the two Governments on June 26th. 

 It consists of a convention deed of a treaty 

 proper. In the former Peru concedes to 

 China the right to send a commission to Peru 

 for the protection of the coolies, and promises 

 to this commission protection by the Peruvian 

 authorities. The coolies now in the service 

 of Peruvians are notified by official proclama- 

 tions that they may bring forward any com- 

 plaints against their employers. These com- 

 plaints are to be investigated by the court in 

 open session. If they prove to be well founded, 

 the employers are informed that, unless they 

 redress the complaints, their contract with the 

 employe's will be annulled. The coolies whose 

 contract expires are called upon to declare 



