CHINA. 



119 



of the English Colonel Gordon, in expelling the 

 Taipings from his province, and in dealing to 

 that powerful rebellion its fatal blow. He is a 

 Chinese, not a Mantchoo, and some believe him 

 to be unfriendly to the continuance of the Man- 

 tchoo rule. One of his chief aims has been for 

 many years to reorganize the Chinese army 

 after the model of the European armies. 



The new Emperor was enthroned on the 25th 

 of February, when official mourning for the 

 death of the late Emperor was suspended 

 throughout China. For a few hours each city 

 was devoted to elaborate displays, after which 

 there was a general return to the habits and 

 dress of conventional grief. The foreign ships 

 in the open ports, the legations, and consulates, 

 were decorated for the occasion. 



A serious difficulty between China and Great 

 Britain arose at the beginning of the year in 

 consequence of the murder of Mr. Margary, an 

 Englishman, by Chinese troops, near the bor- 

 der of Burinah. (See BUEMAH.) Mr. Margary 

 had gone from Shanghai to join an expedition 

 under Colonel Browne, the object of which 

 was to explore a road connecting British India 

 with the Chinese province of Yun-nan. The 

 murder took place at a little town called 

 Manwyne. An English correspondent, writing 

 from Rangoon on the 20th of March, gives the 

 following particulars of the murder of Mr. 

 Margary and his companions, obtained from the 

 members of the "Western China Expedition : 



Manwyne is a small Shan Chinese town, and the 

 Shan inhabitants were favorably disposed toward 

 the British. The direct responsibility for the attack 

 rests upon the Chinese imperial officials at Teng-ye- 

 chew. During the whole of the day the little party 

 were hotly engaged with an immensely superior force 

 of the enemy, who had got to their rear and entirely 

 cut off their retreat by throwing earthworks across 

 the only road leading to the camp. The camp, 

 which was at a height of about 4,700 feet above the 

 sea, was surrounded by hills covered with long grass 

 and trees. Not expecting an attack, no great atten- 

 tion had been paid to the defensibility of the position. 

 Luckily, our Government had insisted on the mis- 

 sion being accompanied by a small party of Sikhs, 

 notwithstanding the objections which had been 

 raised by the Burmese Government. Only the pres- 

 ence of this guard saved the entire party from cer- 

 tain destruction. For^some time the Chinese fired 

 from the cover of the long grass on the sides of 'the 

 hills ; but the distance 200 to 300 yards was too 

 great for their inferior weapons to do much damage, 

 and consequently there were only three men wounded 

 on our side. At length some of the boldest of the 

 enemy determined to risk a charge. Issuing from 

 their cover they advanced into the open with shouts 

 of defiance, calling out the names of their command- 

 er, and exhorting the Burmans who were present to 

 desert the English. The effect of fifteen Snyder 

 rifles, however, playing upon them in the open as- 

 tonished them, and after a few discharges they took 

 shelter in the hills, whence they kept up a constant 

 fire. Some friendly Kakhyens managed to set fire 

 to the grass jungle in which they were concealed. 

 This created a diversion, and after some hours' fight- 

 ing they retired toward Manwyne. Our party then 

 retreated into Burmese territory. The exact loss to 

 the enemy is not known, but seven dead bodies were 

 seen_by our men, and the total killed on their side 

 is said to be about twenty, and a large number of 

 wounded. 



It is remarkable that, in a letter to Mr. Med- 

 hurst, the British consul at Shanghai, of the 

 28th of January, recording his safe arrival at 

 Bhamo, Mr. Margary mentions this very town 

 of Manwyne, where he was murdered, as a 

 locality where he had spent a week in com- 

 parative quiet and enjoyment, while his man 

 Liu went in advance to communicate with 

 Colonel Browne, at Bhamo. It is odd that 

 the inhabitants should have proved so daring 

 and bloodthirsty on the return- journey, when 

 he was supported by other Europeans and a 

 considerable band of followers. The inference 

 was natural, from this and the details, that the 

 murder was done at official instigation. The 

 news reached Peking in the beginning of April, 

 and demands for satisfaction were forcibly 

 presented to the Chinese Government by Mr. 

 Wade, the British minister, accompanied by 

 Vice-Admiral Eyder, representing the navy. 

 The Chinese officials at first tried to evade re- 

 sponsibility on the plea that Maulmain, the scene 

 of the murder, is close upon Burmese territory ; 

 but, when they found that the British demands 

 were made in earnest, showed themselves will- 

 ing to investigate the matter and give satisfac- 

 tion. Li-hung-Chang, the Viceroy of the met- 

 ropolitan province of Pee-chee-lee, appointed a 

 man named Sung Paou-hwa, holding no terri- 

 torial rank whatever, as the Chinese commis- 

 sioner to inquire into the -circumstances attend- 

 ing the murder. This man is a native of Ning- 

 po, and was formerly in the employ of a native 

 merchant at that place, who, during the Tai- 

 ping rebellion, became in some way associated 

 with Li-h img- Chang; and it was then that 

 Sung Paou-hwa first attracted the notice of 

 his present patron. When Li-hung-Chang was 

 appointed Viceroy of Pee-chee-lee, Sung Paou- 

 hwa followed him to Tientsin, and was reward- 

 ed by a post on his staff. He has since held 

 several subordinate offices in the viceroyalty, 

 and has been employed as a customs-official at 

 a village on the Tientsin River. As he had not 

 literary rank and did not belong to the official 

 lawyer-class, he was regarded as unfitted to 

 undertake the inquiry, and Mr. Wade refused 

 to accept this nomination. The Viceroy then 

 appointed his own brother, Le-hang-Chang, as 

 special commissioner, to go to Yun-nan, and 

 investigate the matter. The Chinese authori- 

 ties, in their usual manner, seeming to protract 

 the negotiations and postpone any action in 

 the matter, Mr. Wade presented to the Peking 

 Government an ultimatum. On October 7th 

 Mr. Wade telegraphed to the Foreign Office in 

 London that he had obtained from the Chi- 

 nese Government the guarantees which he 

 considered necessary. The Chinese Gazette 

 published an edict, referring to Mr. Margary 's 

 murder, and declaring the right of foreigners 

 to travel in the interior, and requiring the 

 officials to take cognizance of treaties. Mr. 

 Grosvenor and Mr. Baker, the British com- 

 missioners for the investigation of the murder, 

 started for Yun-nan by land. Mr. Wade, in 



