( 46 )
344.--How long have you been in the Government Service?
A. Since February 1st, 1877.
345. Have you been stationed at Stone Cutters' Island?
A. Yes.
346.--Do you know anything of any fighting going on between junks and Cruisers, first, within the waters of the Colony; second, outside the waters near to the Colony?
A.-I have never seen any fighting.
347.-Do you know anything of the smuggling of opium from the Colony into
China?
A.-No, I have never been brought into contact with anything of that kind. have heard of it outside.
348.--How long were you at Stone Cutters' Island?
A.--Two years and ten months.
349.-Do you know anything about salt smuggling junks?
A.--No, except that as I have been going to Stone Cutters' on an evening I have met boats coming from Yaumáti that I understood were salt junks, and they occasionally fired off guns coming down the Harbour.
350.-What do you mean by firing off guns?
A. Guns that have been loaded, and whose charges are being fired off.
351.-Did you notice any difference in their armament?
A. The boats I mean are those that have wash boards all round, and I think they have less guns than the larger trading junks.
352.-They could not use big guns if they had them?
A.-No.
353. So you have never known, of your own knowledge, of any fighting in the waters of the Colony or adjacent thereto?
A.-No, nothing but what I have heard.
354. Sometimes they let off big crackers?
A. Yes, going down the harbour. It is chin-chin joss business. But I have often passed them firing off
guns.
355.-Muskets or guns?
A.-Muskets; they do not carry guns on account of the high wash boards.
356.-What is the object of the wash boards?
A. They are small sharp boats and they put up these boards to keep out the water. They unship them if they are light.
357. Your predecessor Mr. MCCLELLAN in his evidence told us he heard fighting going on every night.
A.-I never heard it, and I think I was there longer than he was.
Page 135Page 136