to interfere with such emigration, provided the conditions of the Chinese passengers Act were observed, he was directed to propose to the Legislature an Ordinance to give him that power. An Ordinance (No.4 of 1870) was in consequence passed by which it was provided that no Chinese passenger Ship should proceed to Sea from Hong Kong without a license from the Governor; and that the grant of such license should be subject to such conditions as should from time to time be prescribed by the Secretary of State. In exercise of this authority the Secretary of State on 30th May 1870, prohibited the Emigration of Chinese from Hong Kong to any place not within the British Dominions; and consequently the Emigration to the United States came to an end.
but the peculiar feature of the Emigration from Macao which led to the frightful loss of life on board the "Von Suan" is the imprisonment of the Coolies in the between decks by iron grating; and it is in vindication of this practice that the Memorandum inclosed by the Portuguese minister alleges that similar precautions have been adopted in the English and American Steamers plying between Macao and Hongkong since Febry 1857, when several cases of piracy by men disguised as passengers took place on board those vessels.
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