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I think ought to be done with the I-tou itself. The ground is entirely by terms of the Government letter.
January 14th 1861, under control of the Government; the original condition of not using it for any purpose but has been violated.
I think its use as a Temple depôt for coffers might be still permitted, but that it should be closed as a receptacle for the moribund, or a pretended Hospital. This, however, is a question which I leave to the Commission.
I also enclose for the information of the Commission a report of the Surveyor General in 1866 and a report of Mr. Quin, magistrate, and the Colonial Surgeon Thomson.
The latter was in 1866 and had for some years previously been aware of the existence of the I-tou, and thought its use as a receptacle for dead bodies a necessity, in which opinion, if it had otherwise been well conducted, I might have concurred.
When I inspected the place the other day, there were the most offensive odors perceptible from the coffins. I am bound to add that any person visiting the Temple and the depository of coffins in the West might have done so fifty times without being aware that the small chamber contained moribund or dead bodies.