532
expect that should there be
any
reason for treating the Avai differently
from any
other vessel, the subject of
the arrest would be mentioned at
Government Case
(3). Apart from the two reasons
merely
above mentioned which are
obvious
ones, the practical answer
remains that I had
from
the Marshal to the time when
he asked me to
I had not more
to spare, during
which time I was
lying off the Ava in
Government Offices
have
to go
to the Colonial Secretary's
private house and back would have
taken
time to apply
for instructions. The Ava had at
that time steam
up,
she
could therefore leave at
any
moment. I had also to
go off to the westward
of
in board the
Police Quek to obtain the necessary
boats and
men.
As a matter
of fact
from the time I received the requisition
at least twenty minutes, I
should therefore have arrived too
late to
have
assisted
the Marshal. I have no hesitation in declaring my
belief, and this could be substantiated by independent testimony, that had I not been present where I was,
the Marshal would have been carried
out
of the jurisdiction of the Colony