C.S.O. S. 2831.–
"China Mail" "14 October 1864
Convict Lam. a-yee.
Report of Trial of
Enclosure & in Governa
1 Sir Richard Graves MacDonnels Despatch Nr. 811 of 26 october.
1869
h.13889
421
THE CHINA MAIL.
HONGKONG, MONDAY, OCT. 25, 1869.
EXECUTION,
THE sentence of death passed upon Lam Ayee (the Chinese cabin-boy) was carried out this morning at half-past six o'clock. Ayee, it may be remembered, was in the employ of Captain Richardson, of the barque Jane, and was sentenced for having barbarously murdered Donald Carlton, mate of the barque Nile, while both the above-named vessels were lying in Samarinda, one River, Borneo. With the same hatchet with which he cut through Carlton's heart, he had previously wounded the mate of the Jane; but he was convicted on the major charge, and for this he was executed this morning. The coolness and indifference which he showed when sentence was passed upon him was evidently not put on for the occasion, for he maintained it continuously from that time until he dropped. He has persistently and decidedly refused the intervention of any clergyman during his stay in the condemned cell, on the ground that as he is not a Christian he has no belief in such things. His mind had been greatly exercised, however, as to his forfeited wages, which he persisted in regarding as his due, in spite of repeated avowals to the contrary; and it appears he had been unceasing in his appeals to have his clothes given to the custody of his friends. To give some idea of the total want of sentiment which he displayed, it need only be mentioned that he yesterday asked for brandy and opium, and went so far as to request that a prostitute might be brought into his cell.
The prisoner was very sullen and reticent while being pinioned, but when he was brought down to the Gaol Office, he began to take more notice of the questions put to him. Through the interpreter, the prisoner stated plainly that he was not sorry that he had killed Carlton: the only thing he was sorry for was the fact that he had to leave his mother. Upon being pressed, he said that the native female had a good deal to do with the animosity felt towards the mates, and that, although Carlton had seldom or ever beaten him, he was afraid he would do so. He and they had been drinking that night, he said, though he had not taken more than half-a-glass; but another palliating circumstance was, as he imagined, an impression that an uncle of his had gone to sea with Captain More (or Moran), had been beaten to death and thrown overboard, and as drink was flying round he was afraid he might have been so beaten and thrown overboard as well. This story, on re-examination, however, dwindled down to the bare fact that the said uncle had been lost at sea. Although repeated efforts were made by the Gaol Governor to impress the prisoner with the awful solemnity of his position, he remained as stolid as ever, even when mention was made of his mother, and he did not shed a tear or utter a groan or a murmur throughout. One of his last requests was that his clothes should be given to the poor, the blind and lame; and efforts were promised to be made to obtain that object. On being offered a glass of port wine, he refused to put it to his lips, saying it was "religion-wine," though he afterwards quaffed it readily when assured that it was not any more sacred than other wine or "samshoo." At half-past six, the prisoner walked unsupported to the scaffold, accompanied by the Sheriff, Gaol Governor and Mr Creagh (of the Sikh Force), and a few seconds thereafter sufficed for the great transition from this to the other side of time. The surroundings of the execution were the same as they always are, and nothing connected therewith calls for particular remark. The prisoner was a rather strongly-built Chinaman of twenty-one years of age, and when his head was completely shaven, it was very hard to distinguish where his neck terminated and where his head began, so Vitellius-looking was his phrenological development between the back of the ears. His death must have been speedy, but the muscular action appeared more marked than usual after the drop was drawn. The usual crowd of Chinese, a number of Europeans, the chain-gangs, and the guards of Police were present on the occasion.