near
in search of other Pirates neve Hirs Bay, but the weather was very foggy and unfavorable, whilst other duties required Inspector Button's presence at the Pumprene
Court, so that the cruise, though it led to the capture of a regularly equipped Macao kidnapper, and her delivery to the Chinese Authorities, was
otherwise fruitless, except in proving the comparative readiness of the Coast population to give information against Pirates.
13. I am, however, by no means prepared to affirm that the information in the enclosed report
(Enclosure No. 7)
20
and the precis furnished by Mr. Wodehouse is altogether reliable. In fact, I find it difficult to suppose that such numerous Piracies could have been carried out by so limited a number of persons, as the Association of Chefs referred to in the enclosed documents. If the disposition and previous antecedents of a great number of the maritime population of South China incline them to Piratical pursuits, as unquestionably is the case, I cannot readily believe in any monopoly of such acts by any Association, certainly not in any similar monopoly enduring for any lengthened period.