on
is the despatch of troops northward, At the end of June some 2,000
or 3,000 men passed through Hankow bound for Nyanking where the
Governor was said to want a body-guard. They were unarmed and did
no mischief beyond invading the Customs and China Merchants' Steam
Navigation Company's premises. During July some 5,000 troops, of
whom perhaps half were drilled men, went from Hukeang provinces
overland to Honan and on to Chihli. They were led by the anti-foreign
Treasurer of Hunan; and their despatch was explained by the
constitutional duty of succouring the Emperor. Since July I have
not heard of any further detachments leaving, though it was said
that the total would reach 10,000. Possibly the Viceroy sent the
men because he did not feel strong enough to defy Peking altogether,
because failure to help the court would
[Page 240]
have excited popular reprobation, and also in order to get rid of
a considerable part of the dangerous 'loafer' class.

"About the 20th July there was a persistent report that the Viceroy
was secretly placing guns on the opposite banks of the river. The
German military instructors assured me that the report was baseless;
and Lieutenant Brandon, H. M. S. _Pique_, thoroughly searched
the bank for a distance of three miles in length and breadth, without
discovering a trace of a cannon. The only guns in position are the
two 5-inch Armstrong M. L. within the walls of Wuchang, and they
have been there for a long time and are used 'merely for training
purposes.'

"So early as our interview of June 17th, the Viceroy expressed
anxiety as to missionaries at remote points in the interior; and I
had about that time suggested to the various missions that women and
children would be better at a treaty port. The missions themselves
preferred to recall all their members, and at the Viceroy's request
supplied lists of the stations thus left to the care of the local
authorities. Since then, even in Hupeh, there have been a few cases
of plundering, especially in the large district of Sin Chan on the
Hunan border, while at Hangchow-fu, in Hunan, the London Mission
premises were wrecked early in July and for a time throughout the
whole province it appeared probable that the Missions would be
destroyed. The chief cause of this, as of the riots in Hupeh, was
the dissemination of an alleged decree of 26th June praising the
Boxers and ordering the authorities to imitate the north in
exterminating foreigners. This d