NEWS FROM CHINA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 712, 22 July 1878, Page 2

NEWS FROM CHINA.

[liV TEIVEOKAPH.] Wellington, July 20. The special correspondent to th.v; Press Agoncv at Hong Kong writes hs follows on May 20 : Tim siodiuer Brisbane is expected here on the 23rd, from Australia, and K»i,ves again for Foo-Chow to load with tea foi the Colonies. Several vessels have sailed, or are loading, for (Sydney and Melbourne.

The British fleet are kept ->.ro*ty lively. On the 19th ultimo, ths sloop and the corvette Modiste left Yokohama under sealed r.ydora, and next day at daylight three Russian men-of-war, that were in harbor, also left. At noon the same day, the Audacious, of 1+ guns, with the gunboat Magpie, left Yokohama. The new teas are just arriving PooChow, but not in sufficient quantities to form a criterion as. to the general quality. About 2QQQ have been shipped tq London per sjttiamhhip Priam, and to New V»rk by the mail boat. The Russians have made great preparations for the protection of Yladvistoek. There are .now over 15,000 tronjut, including horse and foot r,vfcslory, in the district, and fov,r me«--of=war in the harbo,r,

This Oniony (Hong Kong) is being well fortified, and volunteer- corps are being raised and drilled. The gun-boat Lapwing left here yesterday under sealed orders. CantoNj May f>.

An indecisive feud, is being fought out by several villp.lso communities in the district of Tung ivnng. The cause of the dispute is the claim to a burial ground. Fighting has been going on for the last three weeks, and many have been killed and wounded. The Mandarins of the district are unable to stop tlm. disturbances. FuO-Oiiow, May 15. Ths steamers ape here for tea, and the place is beginning to get hrisk. Certain native buyers have within the last few days purchased a quantity of willow and oilier spurious leaves with a view to their mixture with the genuine leaf. This

;i lie " tea is picked in this neighbourhood, sun-dried in the ordinary way, and brought clown in tea bags. It is then manipulated like ordinary; toa-.l'<tf which it closely resembles. Only a small portion is mixed with tho genuine tea-leaf, and its presence can only be detected by careful inspection. The Chamber of Commerce has taken the matter np. PBKIN, May 10.

Actual famine can scarcely be said to have reached the Capital, but there is great mortality among the refugees, and dead bodies are often seen in the streets. Millet gruel is given out by the authorities, and all comers are supplied, wjth a lai-ge. bowlful twice a day, The Government are much perplexed at the long continued drought, and many are the devices used to divert popular indignation. Severf ■ >\it of the Emperor's ten dishes have been cut off. Several Princes have been sent to different temples, with orders

to stay there till rain falls. Ching Fu s formerly Commander-in-Chief, was condemned to death several years ago, but through the powerful influence of his wife's r§lat}Q~n,s. he is still in prison, and [ the people believe that rain will not fall till he'is beheaded, Meanwhile Princes are giving everything they can to help the people. Thefts in the streets of Pekiu are very common, and vendors of eatables have difficulty in carrying on their business. Typhoid fever is very common both in the Tartax l and Chinese cities. Shanghai, May 15. The suffering caused by the famine in the north still claims first attention. The utmost efforts, both locally and in England and elsewhere are being made to ; alleviate it, and the appeals for help have '

been generally responded to. Japan, which is recorded as the jealous neighbor of China, has notably come forward and made a handsome contribution in money and rice to the relief fund. In all the principal streets in the foreign settlements of Shanghai are placed boxes to receive alms of the passers-by for the famine stricken, and a good sum has

been already obtained. Ttie missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, are forgetting the jealousies of rival creeds in their efforts to administer succour, and oftentimes run great risk in districts where a foreign face has rarely been seen, for unhappily robbery and murder are rife in the desolated regions, and deaths by famine sadly numerous. And these are not the worst features of the accounts which reach here, for pestilence, too, is treading fast on the heels of famine, and so fearful is the destruction to life that in many districts there will be no people left to cultivate the fields. Extreme anxiety prevails in Penang in regard to the famine, and a decree, expressing the Imperial contrition for faults committed, has been published. "At this period," it says, " when a succession of seasons of death, has brought about a famine of such magnitude, and with festering misery and want so prominently before our eyes, we must acknowledge the calamity as a visitation from Heaven in consequence of faults and omissions in the administration of the Government." The decree goes on to urge the most rigid economy, as the duty of all classes, in order to place funds at the disposal of the Relieving Boards.