(4)
Shing has not yet returned nor has the said Junk yet arrived in Hongkong. That the above was the sole and only purpose for which I chartered the said steamer, and that no cargo or merchandise of any description was laden on board of her by me or any other person to my knowledge.
And I make this solemn affirmation conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the Provisions of an Act made and passed in the sixth year of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to repeal an Act of the then present Session of Parliament intituled, An Act for the more effectual abolition of Oaths and Affirmations taken and made in various Departments of the State, and to substitute Declarations in lieu thereof, and for the more entire suppression of voluntary and extrajudicial Oaths and Affidavits, and to make other Provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths."
Signed, &c.
(5)
guns in case he was attacked, and that the only object of the steamer's presence there was to wait for the person who had gone to make enquiries, and having obtained information, to proceed on her search for the said Junk down the Coast, the said steamer having already searched this side down the mainland of China without meeting with the said Junk, and that the said steamer did not leave Hongkong with the intention of going or resorting to such place, but went in there casually for the said object, and if the said Junk had been met with by the said steamer, she never would have gone in there.
Your petitioner therefore prays that the steamer Prince Albert, which has been seized by the Imperial Maritime Customs for alleged breach of Treaty, may be released and handed back to him, or if the authorities decline to do so that you will be pleased to apply for the proper investigation and adjudication in the matter, and your petitioner will ever pray, &c.
PETITION TO THE CONSUL
To DANIEL BROOK ROBERTSON, ESQUIRE, C.B.,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul for Canton.
The Humble Petition of Kwok a' Cheong, of Victoria, in the Colony of Hong-kong:
That your petitioner has resided for many years in Hongkong, and is the owner of certain steamers and small vessels, for which under the provisions of the Local Ordinance of the said Colony, Colonial Registers as British ships have been granted to him. That one of the said vessels so registered as a British ship, and owned by your petitioner is the small steamer Prince Albert, of Hongkong, and that for some time previous to, and on the 21st day of March last past, the said vessel had been laid up in the harbour of Hongkong, and had no master on board. That on that day Oo Tye of the Tow Shing shop, in Hongkong came to me, and said that a friend of his had a Junk coming up the Coast from Cochin China, to Hongkong, with cargo, the said Junk had been dismasted in bad weather, and that he wanted to know what I would charge to send a steamer, to go in search of her down the West Coast, and tow her up to Hongkong. That I agreed with the said Oo Tye to charter my said steamer Prince Albert to his friend, to go in search of the said Junk, for the sum of Six Hundred Dollars, which sum was to be paid to me whether the said steamer succeeded in finding the said Junk or not. That it was further agreed between us that should the steamer succeed in finding the said Junk, a further sum should be paid for towing her up to Hongkong, the amount whereof should be settled between the Captain of my said steamer, and the person to be sent down in the said steamer on behalf of the Charterer, according to the size of the Junk, which was unknown to me, and the distance from Hongkong at which she was found. That my said steamer being laid up I had to procure a master for her, which I did, and on the morning of the 22nd day of March last, I took the said master to the office of the Colonial Secretary of the said Colony, and had his name placed on the Register of the said steamer as master. That the said master then applied to the Harbour Master of the said Colony for a Port Clearance to go out and search for a Junk to tow to Hongkong, and that such Port Clearance being granted, the said steamer left to search for the said Junk with a person on board sent by the Charterer to identify the said Junk when found. That I placed neither Cargo nor Merchandize on board the said steamer, nor was such placed on board of her to my knowledge, and that the said steamer was not dispatched for the purpose of trading at any Port or Place on the Coast of China, but solely and absolutely for the purpose of searching for, picking up, and towing the said Junk to Hongkong, and that I am informed by the master of the said steamer that he only went into the place where the steamer was found to make enquiries for the said Junk, and landed the said person sent down by the Charterer to make enquiries from the native craft as to whether the dismasted Junk had been met with or seen by any of them, and only went in and anchored there, while waiting his return, because where he was lying outside the port there were very heavily armed craft, and he had only 6 men besides firemen on board, with only a few muskets, and no ...
SIR,
NOTICE FROM THE CUSTOMS.
OFFICE OF MARITIME CUSTOM,
CANTON, 5th April, 1866.
His Excellency the Superintendent of Customs has requested me to inform you that the steamer Prince Albert has been seized, because she unlawfully entered the port of Shuey Tung, and that the said steamer will be confiscated unless before noon on the 11th instant, being the sixth day from the date of the delivery of this notice, the Superintendent of Customs receives from the British Consul an official application to have the case fully investigated.
To the Owner of the Steamer Prince Albert.
I have the honor to be Sir,
Your Obedient Servant,
(Signed)
GEO. B. GLOVER. Commissioner of Customs.
ARTICLES BETWEEN MR. WADE AND PRINCE KUNG, RELATIVE TO CASES OF CUSTOMS SEIZURE.
NOTIFICATION No. 41 of 1865,
British Consulate, 29th November, 1865.
The undersigned circulates for the information of the British Mercantile Community, the English Text of four rules agreed to between the Prince Kung, and H. B. M. Chargé d'Affairs T. F. Wade, Esq., C.B., under which public enquiry is to be conducted at Shanghai in any case in which a British subject conceives his vessel or goods to be wrongfully withheld from him by the Customs Department of the Port. The said rules do not affect the penalties recoverable under Articles 37 and 38 of the Treaty of Tientsin, the same belonging to the jurisdiction of H. M.'s officers in China.
It is understood that these rules are open to revision after a twelve months' trial.
(Signed) CHARLES A. WINCHESTER.
Revised Draft of Articles inclosed in Mr. Wade's Despatch to the Prince Kung.
27th October, 1865.
Article I. Wherever a ship or goods belonging to a British subject may be seized in a port of China by the Customs, the seizure is to be reported without delay
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