The Secretary of State for the Colonies Complaining of the laxity of the Chinese Officials in not enforcing at Canton and the harbours of the Macao the Regulation prohibiting Merchant Junks from carrying Stink pots, and intending to bring the whole question before the Vice Roy and to state to him that if he persists in not taking the necessary precautions for the supervision of vessels frequenting the Ports of his district, the Governor of Hongkong cannot be expected to act alone and unsupported.
In reply I have to state that so much has been said and written on the subject of the disarmament of Chinese junks and the prohibition of carrying the missiles called "Stink pots" that a brief resume of the facts and circumstances relating to these questions may not be out of place, and will help, perhaps, to place them in a form more intelligible than a perusal of the mass of correspondence will afford.
The Scheme for the disarmament of junks plying on this part of the Coast originated with Admiral the Honorable Sir Henry Keppel. Early in his command he had mentioned the subject to me because all sea-going junks were heavily armed, and was under the...