35
by which I mean within a radius
of
some 50 miles
of this City. Since
my first arrival here in March, 1866,
I have been called on so
frequently to
bring before Her Majesty's Government
the various matters
affecting Piracy,
that I need offer no apology for wishing to sum
up the present
state of that question before taking my final departure from China.
2. The alteration effected in 1869 in the Admiralty Regulations, and the prohibition thereby practically imposed on the employment of Her Majesty's Gunboats in pursuit of Piratical craft, except under conditions seldom likely to be effectively available,
Vide SS.
$18. Par.
had begun
in April, 1870,
before my departure to be appreciated by
the Chinese, and cases
becoming
more and more frequent before I left,
were likely to increase, the
probability of which I had the honor to report to Lord Granville early in 1870.
2. I was therefore not surprised
to learn, when I returned here last
December, that Piracy was growing
more frequent, and that Licensed native vessels with Colonial numbers had been attacked. It was also stated to me that the Pirates had taken to employing a smaller class of vessels than formerly, not deeming it necessary to defend themselves