Mr. Conger to Mr. Hay.
Pekin, China, May 14, 1900.
Sir: I have the honor to report that on the 6th and 8th instants, while the British and Chinese commissioners were demarcating the boundary of the British leased territory of Wei-hai Wei, they were attacked by the natives, who did not understand the proceeding, but who had been made to believe that the foreigners had come to take possession of their territory, oppress them with increased taxes, etc.
Major Penrose, a British engineer, and four of his men were wounded, thirty Chinese killed and many wounded, and the Chinese commissioners were taken prisoners and held until relieved by the British and Chinese troops, but quiet has been restored, and the British minister informs me that the work will proceed, it is believed, without further trouble.
It has been currently rumored that the so-called “Boxers” were the cause of the trouble, but the British minister tells me that he has information from British officers on the ground that the “Boxers” had nothing whatever to do with it. In quelling the disturbance the British regiment of Chinese soldiers behaved finely, and notwithstanding their families, many of whom live in the vicinity, were threatened with murder by the natives, they loyally obeyed every command. * * *
I have the honor to be, etc.,