4
were entitled to net as
now be
the Chinese Junkmen in question, with the notion that they they did; nor can their impression advanced as a justification of their violence. But from personal inquiries that I have
made, I have come to the conclusion that the document, although not rendered in as good Chinese as it might have been, is "perfectly intelligible to all who wish to
comprehend it."
7
In fact, neither the Proclamation nor the Translation might be allowed to have any weight.
any weight in the
it is
and
consideration of the question, for it is notorious that the Junk men were entirely unacquainted even with its existence, therefore could not have been in any way influenced by its provisions; and I would here remark that the Jury ought to have known, and if they did not know, should have been instructed by the Coroner, that
A
*
Ordinance No.14 of 1845.
227
no Proclamation by the Governor of a Colony could have the effect of setting aside the express declaration of an ordinance, duly passed by the Legislative Councils, and approved of by Her Majesty, which distinctly authorizes "The Superintendent and Deputies of Police to board
any vessel for the effectual
prevention and detection of any felonies or
misdemeanours."
5.
The conduct of the Chinese Junkmen on this occasion is altogether inexplicable, for although I am desirous of believing that on the first visit of the Police, they might, after having been frightened by the shouting of some Europeans, (at whose boat they threw stones, and whose representation of their having done so, led to the enquiry
of the Police, and thence to the subsequent catastrophe), have mistaken their boat for
a
Pirate; it is impossible to conceive that
when those of Her Majesty's Ship "Cambrian."
4