this work of
poisoning the people.

"Their especial business was to poison all the wells. This so-called
criminal was speedily executed.

"A few days afterwards a military official at Chiang-chiu also issued a
proclamation to warn the people against poison, and giving the confession
of the above-mentioned criminal with great particularity. The criminal is
made to say that a few months ago he had been decoyed and sold to
foreigners. In company with more than fifty others--he was conveyed by
ship to Macao. There they were distributed among the foreign hongs, one to
each hong. (Hong is pigeon English for business house.)

"That afterwards he with three others was sent home, being furnished with
poison for distribution, and with special direction to poison all the wells
on their way. They were to refer all those on whom the poison took effect
to a certain individual at Amoy, who would heal them gratuitously, only
requiring of them their names. This, doubtless, is an allusion to the
hospital for the Chinese at Amoy, where the names of the patients are of
course recorded and they receive medicine and medical attendance
gratuitously.

"In this confession foreigners are designated by the opprobrious epithet of
'little'--that is, contemptible--'demons.' This, by the way, is a phrase
never used to designate foreigners in this region except by those in the
mandarin offices. Besides the absurdity of charging foreigners with
distributing poison, the whole confession bears the evidence not only of
falsehood, but, if ever made, of having been put into the man's mouth by
those inside the mandarin offices and forced from him by torture, for the
express purpose of exciting the intensest hatred against foreigners.

"In consequence, excitement and terror and hatred to foreigners, and
consequently to native Christians, became most intense, and extended from
the cities far into the country around. Wells were fenced in and put under
lock and cover. People were called together by the beating of gongs to
draw water. The buckets were covered in carrying water to guard against
the throwing in of poison along the streets. At the entrances of some
villages notices were posted warning strangers not to enter lest they be
arrested as poisoners. In various places men were arrested and severely
beaten on suspicion, merely because they were strangers. The native
Christians everywhere were subjected to much obloquy and sometimes to
imminent danger, c