(No. 10.) Her Majesty'* Consulate, Ningpo, 



My Lord, June 20th, 1884. 



On receipt of Mr. Currie's despatch, dated Foreign Office, 

 February 1st, I at once applied myself towards ascertaining what in for- 

 mation regarding the wax insect had been already acquired and 

 recorded by Europeans. I enclose a list of authorities, noting those 

 to which I have obtained access. Having studied these, 1 paid a visit 

 to the Fathers Rathouis and Hende, of the Jesuit Mis-ion of Siccawei, 

 near Shanghai, and subsequently instituted inquiries as to the localities 

 in this consular district that produced the wax, and under what condi- 

 tions. Unable, however, to obtain any positive information from the 

 natives whose services I had engaged, I requested and obtained the 

 permission of Her Majesty's Minister to explore the country myself, and 

 more particularly those parts in which I knew that native wax was 

 offered for sale. I have now the honour to report to your Lordship the 

 result of my expedition. 



In the Feng-hua district, whose town is 40 miles from this, I first 

 noticed the ash tree (Frajlnas cl,iiic„sis) growing on the banks of canals 

 at the places where water was being raised for irrigating the paddy 

 fields. The tree is a handsome one, with a straight stem, a shapely head, 

 and abundant foliage. It is planted as a shade for the labourers and 

 cattle. Its height of trunk hinders its coining into general u.3e for this 

 purpose. In the neighbourhood of Ningpo, the Persian lilac, camphor, 

 and tallow trees are preferred. This ash does not thrive on sodden 

 ground. Regarding this ash, the intendant of this circuit, a Yiin-nan 



the shoots of the ash attain a height of eight feet in a year, and it is 

 from them that abundant wax is formed. lr is ea-ilv propagated by 

 means of cuttings. I have now in the garden of this consulate shoots 

 of near lhr<e feet long from -lip- given me by Father Rathouis. 



I failed, however, to discover during my tour of some 100 miles 

 anything tending toslnnv that the practice exists of placing the pouches 



be affixed to the lai - 1. a\. d privet ( L„,„si,,>,„ /., ,' „ . on,\ Of this 

 or three groves or plantations. 



On my journey, despite the constant inquiries I made, I was unable 

 to find anyone who kn -w anything of the culture of the wax insect till 

 my arrival at the temple near the summit of the F'ien-t'ai mountain, 

 the head-quarters of Ruddhism in the province. There the steward of 

 the monastery told no that the priests yearly gathered the wild wax 

 from the privets that gnu in the woods about the hills, but he was not 



