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On the instant when the new legislation came into force, almost all the junks, the trading provision and passenger boats disappeared from Victoria Harbour and the various other stations along the coast of the Island, that strike, nevertheless, if it could be called, was of the most temporary nature, and having myself traversed the markets at that period, I can certify that the rise in provisions was scarcely perceptible.
3. It was clear that if Hong Kong markets and trade really afforded a field of lucrative employment, the trifling expenses imposed by the Junk Ordinance were not calculated to deter honest traders. Nevertheless, the surveillance exercised over native craft, and the impossibility of concealing piratical equipments, has, I am happy to say, banished many junks, whom I hope not to see again except as prizes. Whilst I have no doubt there has also been an exodus of more than 2,000 suspicious characters from the town.