The Red Cloud chief., 1883-11-02

| ~ there se~ms 10 % ReosSA1 ofsFo
si,ion On sssupe that Chinese srOcps
mus, have had something 10 do 9Th
tt~ recent dsfeaf of The rsSach IN 1oa-
jain. f mar BE- - veil 90 sssse sAa3
surh q vi~v 10 oppc~ed % tho fnctA aad
fhs; the French have thus far bad calT
10 encounter ~ ~oppooeuts 10 Tooqut0
ih~ Annamese and The lorces q The
black and yellow naxs. Tiers VII -
some curiosity tn asc~r,ais vho ,h~ss
latter are. and. - they Are Chinese By
r.o- and IN appearance. u msy be vel
81 describe heir political ststas h~foss
they are contounded with the regular
Ch,n~~e army.
The Topping reb~llioo broke out 10
the provinces ID k~anx,i. and after e,-
tending arross China 20 within sight Of
the joint efforts of the Imperial rom
mandcp and Of General Gordon Ia
1855 those IL the rebels ~ho had either
remained in k~angsi or Who had bad
the good fortune To esosoe there we're
expelled the Province. by the Emperors
Lieui@nants and driven acro.s The hos-
der into Tonquin. They found . secure
plac. OF refuge In the mountains 90
either sido Of the Sangkoi valley. bat
far from willing {" enaspera;e the Chi
nese authorities. they showed . disposi-
ton to act In obedience 20 their behes'.
and tn carry out their projecss. In
numbers their fighting men were
at this period computed u tive
thousand. At first Ws,song. said 10
have been one % the principal Of Tae-
ping Wang's followers. wAs the rscox-
nized chief Of thi. band Of e~xiles. wbo
were accompanied by their wives and
families. The Annamese troops were
repeatedly sem against these trouble
some and self-lnvi,-d guests, but oaly
10 experience defeat. and IN 1865 these
Chinese rebels were In unques,ioped
possession Of the night bank Of the
SaDgkoi above the capital The assist
auce Ut the Chinese viceroy OF the Two
kwang was invoked and accorded With
such good results that these assailanss
were expelled from the low-lying coun-
try and confined Ia the upper course Of
the river. A division in the chicfship
Of the band came almost Q, the samc
moment 10 give increased eflec, 70 the
interference Of the Chinese authorities.
Watson died. and two chiefs wcrc elect
ed in his stead. one Of the original fol-
lowers Of the Tapping. the others by
those who had joined Waisong 10 the
hope Of plumber or from the desire TO
elud- the pursuit Of justice. The break
ing up If the association was made the
more complete by the adoption Of diff |
fercnt ensigns. and. while those in favor
Of an adventurous life retained the
black flag the rest. anxious for the
safety Of their families. and willing 10
coine Ia terms with the authorities both
Of AMMAN and China, adopted 1.-the
yellow flag ss their token.
The division was Of n more serious
character than the mere change Of
name. for the black flags were COM
posed OF the worst characters and
most dangerous marauders Of q dis
turb-d border and n troubled period.
Their leader. Lin Yurn Fou. had been
the most famous freebooter 81 kwangsi.
from which position IL was an cay
passage for him 10 become the most
trusted officer Of Wai>ong. but the
yellow flags were much more disposed
10 settle down. and 10 lead n peaceful
life. Some of them had neither sym
P"'"iN'" "'th' h'i tah'h par. III 'ho
operation Of the Tacpings; and their
chief. Hwang Tsong In. had been q
soldier in the army OF kwangski. The
principal settlement Of the black flsg is
at L.aOkai, on the Sangkoi. while that
Of the yellow flag is at lIaglang, some
distance east and inland Of that place.
Although the black flags werc the
~iicrccst, the yellow flags were the moro
numerous, and enjoyed . superiority
in this respect which the former
could not ignore. BY subs!diz-
Ing The latter the Annamese al.
'horitics were able to feel that they
had done something toward insurin2
the coed behavior Of the former. They
did not refuse. however. To avail them
selves Of the military service Of the ono
or the other. aS suited their convenience.
AMI when NJ. GARNER made himself
master Of Hanoi in 1873. it was with an
army largely composed Of the black flag
shat the Anamesc returned to attack
him. Tie French officer did not make
sufficient allowance for their superior
courage, and while making an attack on
their position was cut down and killed.
The Annamese have in the presence Of
the same enemy nov appealed TO the
allies. and both the black and vel.
low flags are again arrayed under the
banner oi Tuduc in TOnquin. Their
numbers. il need only be stated in con-
clusion. have very considerably increased
since their arrival in Annamcsc territory.
whereas the whole band of Wassong
numbered only five thousand warriors.
the black flags alone now muster that
numb r. and the yellow flags perhaps
twice as many mOre.- London Times.