No. 152.
Mr. Avery to Mr. Fish.

No. 46.]

Sir: Referring to my No. 45, in which mention is made of the massacre of Mr. Margary, an English officer, and five Chinese who were accompanying, him on an exploring mission from British Burmah into Yun-nan, a Chinese province adjoining Burmah, in the southwestern part of this empire, I am now able to furnish the particulars given in the inclosed memorandum, for which I am indebted to the courtesy of Her British Majesty’s minister, Mr. Wade. Some of the ministers of the Tsungli Yamen inform me that Yunnan is partly inhabited by savages, whom it is difficult to control, and attribute the massacre to them. But Mr. Wade’s information seems positive on the point that the men who attacked Margary’s party were soldiers, and only the advanced guard of an army of 3,000 sent by order of the governor of Momein to destroy the British party. Mr. Strover, who is named in Mr. Wade’s memorandum as the authority for this information, is known here to be [Page 311] a very careful man, who would not be apt to echo mere rumors, or to put forth suspicions as facts. If the crime against a party of peaceful tourists under the protection of the imperial government was really committed by official order or instigation, the fact adds perfidy to barbarism. Certain facts ought to be mentioned in regard to the character and objects of the expedition, which, while they do not in any degree excuse the crime committed, are necessary to a full understanding of the general subject. In the first place the expedition was not composed of private tourists, but was under the command of officials in the British service, sent on an errand of commercial exploration, and accompanied by a band of Burmese, apparently armed, since one report received says th6y fought bravely. The Indian government is very desirous to open trade with the Chinese provinces adjoining its territory, as are the French in Cochin-China; and the sedition to which Margary belonged was undoubtedly sent to get information of the country, its routes and products, with reference to that desire.

* * * * * * *

Mr. Wade, on learning the shocking news from India, at once laid it before the Tsungli Yamen, when they promised to send and inquire into the matter. Mr. Wade gave them to understand that he would not be satisfied with this. An inquiry, including the sending to and from the extremity of the empire, would occupy six months, and so vague a promise gave no assurance of redress. He insisted that a British officer be allowed to attend the investigation, that the British government should be allowed to renew the expedition, and that an indemnity of 150,000 taels be paid to him, (Mr. Wade,) some 30,000 taels to go to Margary’s family, as much to meet certain outstanding claims of British, subjects in China, and a portion to the British Indian government, to defray the expenses of the late or a future expedition. He also intimated to the Yamen, as he told his associates in the Cuban question, that he should press for a better adjustment of the audience question, and of issues connected with the collection of likin. In common with my colleagues of Russia, Germany, and France, I was anxious to give the English minister the moral support in his demand for redress in the Margary massacre, which would be afforded by withdrawing from consideration of the Cuban affair until he could rejoin us; but I was decidedly opposed to complicating the case with other issues which, if it is thought necessary to take up at all, can be better treated separately, on their own merits. This being the opinion of the rest also, Mr. Wade, on our voluntary offer to support him as stated, agreed to divide the issues he has presented; and we therefore sent into the Yamen the note given in my No. 45. Mr. Wade’s position was undoubtedly strengthened with the ministers of the Yamen by the evident sympathy of his colleagues. At first they declined to do more than send an officer to Yun-nan and bring the responsible parties to justice on their own account. There is apt to be so much evasion in such cases that the demand for a British officer to be present was reasonable. The Yamen pleaded that the treaty provision for joint trials applied only to the open ports; but Mr. Wade insisted on the concession of this point as the most essential to a satisfactory settlement.

After repeated discussions, Mr. Wade formulated his demands in a dispatch, requiring passports for a new expedition, and for two British officers to proceed to Yunnan and participate in the trial, declaring that he should leave Peking in three days if his demands were not granted. This was on the 29th ultimo. On the 30th he received the passports, with a letter positively assuring him that none of the accused shall be [Page 312] sentenced until the two officers shall have heard the evidence against them. A Chinese official will accompany the British officers. The matter of indemnity was not definitely settled, and Mr. Wade is not certain that his government will care to press it. The Yamen offered to pay 30,000 taels, out of good-will, to Margary’s family, but Mr. Wade waived the matter until he should receive instructions. The presence of the two officers will tend to insure the conviction of the principal offenders, instead of some unimportant agents whose death might readily be decreed to screen perfidious officials, unless, as is not unlikely, the trial and scape-goat executions shall have been completed before the arrival of the English on the scene. Mr. Wade will go to Shanghai in a few days for the purpose of appointing and starting for Yunnan the officers as agreed. It is my impression that the Chinese government wished to do justice in the matter, but its pride made it reluctant to concede English participation in the proceedings. The securing of this concession is an important precedent for future cases, which is valuable to all foreigners in the empire, and which cannot fail to have a wholesome effect on the provincial authorities generally, who have been left too much to’ their own discretion in their dealings with foreigners. I have taken occasion to congratulate Mr. Wade on his success, as I had before expressed to him the sorrow that I was sure would be universal in the United States for the Margary massacre.

I have, &c.,

BENJ. P. AVERY.
[Inclosure in No. 46.]

Memorandum regarding the murder of Mr. Margary.

The viceroy of India proposing to send an exploring mission from British Burin ah into Yunnan, passports were obtained for the party from the Tsungli Yamen in July last, and in the autumn Mr. Margary, an able young man of the consular service, proceeded with the passports overland from Hankow to the Yunnan frontier. Care had been taken to supply Mr. Margary with letters from the Tsungli Yamen to the governments of the provinces through which his road lay; and notes received from him, en route, and after his arrival at Bhamo, show that he had been, on the whole, well satisfied with his reception along the line. In a note to me, dated Bhamo, 18th January, he writes that on arrival at Momein he had found letters awaiting him from Captain Cooke, political agent at Bhamo, leaving it to him to halt at Momein, or to push on, as he deemed best. Fearing that he might miss the party if he remained at Momein, he advanced, first to Nan Tien, and thence to Man Yun, or Man Wyne, from which point he sent forward a Chinese messenger to Bhamo. This man, by name Lin, had accompanied Mr. Margary from Shanghai, and had proved a most useful employé. He reached Bhamo in six days from Man Yun, and was sent back with a Burmese guard to escort Mr. Margary through the country of the Shans. Tsien, governor-general of Yunnan, and Knei Chow had treated Mr. Margary with great civility, and had sent two mandarins of respectable rank with him as far as Lung Chang. The prefect of this place, an old opium-smoker, was uncivil. Every one else was kind, and Mr. Margary especially speaks of the courtesy of Li ssu tai, who even went so far as to perform the kotou to him when he met him at Man-Yun. This man is famous for his support of the government against the Panthai rebels, and is now chief authority at Lan Tien. He was over at Man-Yun for the special purpose, he told Mr. Margary, of inducing the savage tribes to substitute some sort of tariff for their present black-mail system. Mr. Margary remained at Man-Yun some days in friendly intercourse with Li, and on the return of his messenger Lin with an escort, he proceeded to Bhamo, which place he reached two days after Colonel Browne, the chief of the mission. It had been intended that this should leave Bhamo about the middle of January, but circumstances had delayed the arrival of Colonel Browne, and there seems now to have arisen further cause of detention, as it was not until late in February that a portion of the party had reached the neighborhood of Man-Yun. The remainder were proceeding by a more southern route. On the 22d February, according to a telegram [Page 313] from Mr. Stover to the viceroy of India, the expedition was attacked by some hundreds of Chinese soldiers, accompanied by hill tribes. This body, commanded by the nephew of Li ssu tai, was the advanced guard of an army of three thousand sent by order of the governor of Momein to annihilate the British party. “Of this,” says the telegram, “there is not any doubt.” Mr. Margary and his servants, five Chinese, were killed at Man Wyne, (whether in the fight or in cold blood does not appear,) and their heads were exposed on the walls of the town. I imagine Mr. Margary must have gone into Man Wyne, where, it will be remembered, he had resided some days, either to prepare quarters, or to offer explanations, or for some such purpose. The rest of the party lost all their baggage, but escaped with their lives, although three (perhaps of their escort) were wounded.

T. WADE.