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A. No, I have no shops in these three places; I have friends there and I ask them to buy these cattle for me.
Q. Is it your money or theirs which buys the cattle? Do they buy them and send them down here and make a profit on them or do they buy them and you pay them a commission?
A. He buys the cattle for and on my behalf and at my request and I believe he makes some profit on them.
Q.-But he is your agent to buy you cattle when you delegate him?
A.-Yes.
Q.--Where is Pak Hong?
A. It is near Canton or near Nam Hung. It is beyond Canton.
Q. Where is Sai Kong and where is Tien Chau?
A.-I think they are in the Town Prefecture, close to a newly opened port
beyond Canton up the river.
Q.--Is it beyond Samshui ?
A. I have not been to Samshui myself.
Q.--You do not know where Tien Chau is?
A.-No.
Q. When did you get cattle last from Tien Chau?
A. I received 57 head of cattle from Tien Chau to-day.
Q.--How much did you pay for them?
A.-I cannot speak from memory; I should have to refer to my letter.
Q.But you read the letter to-day. The cattle came to-day. How much did you pay for them?
A.-I am not able to read.
Q-But when the letter came your man read it over to you?
A.—Well, yes, my man read it, but I have not ascertained from him the price. Q.--Do you pay per picul or per head ?
A.-Per bead.
Q.-What do Tien Chau cattle cost per head on the average?
A. A grown-up one will average $46 or $47 and a small one $36 or $37.
Q. How many pounds of meat will you get out of a big Lien Chau bullock after
it has been cleaned and the skin and entrails taken away?
A.--About three piculs.
Q.--That is the average; sometimes it will be a little more and sometimes a little less.?
A. Yes; that is the average.
Q. And a smaller one will give you how much?
A.-Say from 160 to 180 catties.
Q-Does he or his friend pay for the feeding of these cattle coming down and the junk to carry them down?
A. The seller bears the expense from Lien Chau to Canton, and from Canton to Hongkong I pay the expense.
Q. How much is the expense per head from Canton to Hongkong? A.--From $1.25 per head. It is only a night, and I do not supply any food.