The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-10-31
r. BELLION in THE NORTHWEST.
MOvemen,s OF the shensi Rebels 100000
Men in Arms-yyhnt They Complain Of ana

MOvemen,s OF the shensi RebcIs-7O 900
Men i'm Arms-vyhnt They Complain Of and
How They act.
GPekln august 25) correspondence Of the Hong Kong
Mall
The following notes on the present position OF the
affairs among the Shonsi rebels desuitory as they
which that and some parts Of the neighboring
provinces nave been reduced. My informant Is q
military mandarin who recently came on Through
60 Pekin with an escort OF 500 soldiers from the inn
Derialist camp OF supply In northeast Shensi. He
was twenty.lour days on The Journey
The rebels are shut up In an island district
formed by the spitting of the Yellow river IN the
extreme northwest OF Shensi, IN Ming Hsia- Flu.
They are shut In on all except the Kansnh sdc,
whence they procure ample supplies both for them.
selves and their animals, OF which each man has
two or three. Foreign arms they obtain from the
western Mahomedan cities but no cannon; they are
very pucky, and will XIII as long as they have
knife lelr The imperialiss are expecting a supply
@! foreign guns aud shells to arrive In September;
but they Will have little effect for though the rebel
camp Is within range the imperiallst gunners will
not be able TO beat down the entertainments.
My Informant estimates the rebels at $4,000 men
as follows-i,o0o Old Nienei under their old leader
falsely reported to be dead Chang Tsung Ya; $1,000
Szecbuen men; 100000 kansuh men; 800, 900 Shen-
y men. under Ma-ho-o0ng the latter being CON-
mander.ln-chef.
The imperialists-some 100000 men-are massed
east and south OF the rebels islands. The 1000
Foreign drilled troops are posted sale on the east
his headquarters at the capital OF Sher.si $50 miles
from the rebels, at Which safe distance he directs
the operations OF the lmperalists. When fight
takes place Mu- Shan always reports another vic
tory The pack mules, with grain for the troops,
take tWenty-slx days TO march across Shen-si Nv
Informant started with 800 mules and had only
seventy when he reached his destination the rest
having been killed and eaten to piece out life by the
way. Tue mules always consume half their load OF
grain on the way. supplies Tor the troops drawn
from Northern aud Eastern Shan.sl
Northern Shan 81 ID spoken OF as depopulated.
Solitary travellers are killed and eaten. The troops
secure themselves from similar fate by always GO
Ing In bands. Those or the inhabitants who have
not been either killed forced into the rebel or i'm
pera hosts have fed for safety the charcoal pits
among the hills, whence they prowl about ike wild
beasts for subsistence
My informant expects that the rebels will hold
fheir island position for two years yet unless the
foreign guns scare them ont, Which he does not ex-
Rect He says they have all the silver and gold OF
Kansuh and Shen-si with them melted down into
solid masses the size OF water kongs. BODY of
1000 mperiasts have deserted and hold posse sson
oil len-Ngan- Flu North Central Shen- 81 whence
they make raids for subsistence; but they are quite
overlooked as harmless; all the efforts OF the mperi-
asts being directed TO keep the rebels from spread
ang northward or the Great Wall following IL east
ward ana breaking into Shen-si at Its extreme
northwest point, where the great wall abuts upon
A great trade is done in captured or kidnapped
children. Healthy ones are worth So a mead the
soldiers sell them at good profit in Shen-st. MY
Informant tried to bring two along with him, but
one night they rose upon him, nearly killed MN
and made their escape homeward This man
CLAIMS that the 1mperiasts hold Kansuh but that
seems inconsistent with his otner statement that the
rebels draw their supplies from that province, He
ascrbes the comparative lack Of courage in the i'm
peral troops not to cOwardice, but to their being
worn down by terrible marches 10 sand up to the