64
A few days since two European convicts escaped from a working party. They braced to British Kowloon. They crossed the boundary and were attacked by some Chinese. This compelled them to return and they were arrested by a Sergeant of Police. They had been observed there but could not be arrested. According to my instructions, these convicts had not been attacked and compelled to return to British Jurisdiction.
96
An interval of at least three days must have elapsed before I could have obtained any explanation from the Chinese Mandarin at Kowloon, notwithstanding that the escaped convicts were at one time within view of the British Police.
As a second instance, I would beg to recall to your recollection the feud that existed last year between June ... and the Hakka Villages. At this time there were two bodies of about ten men each, drawn up, armed with guns and spears and carrying flags and shields, in line of battle on either side of the boundary. The emergency of the case necessitated an interview between the Governor and the head Mandarin of Kowloon, who at once took measures to restrain the villagers in Chinese territory, while the Hong Kong Police disarmed those on British land. But it is since those...