His Excellency the Governor requested that Fernel should be handed to the Colonial Authorities. This request has been refused and in your letter of the 30th December you state that according to an integral part of Spanish law a merchant ship is of the nation whose flag she flies even if she is owned by a citizen of another nation, and you propose to refer the question for solution to the Governor of Manila and through him to the Imperial Government.
His Excellency the Governor desires to protest against your action in this matter, on the ground that being in the waters of Hong Kong she is therefore within British territory and jurisdiction. He again demands that the prisoner Fernel be handed over to the Hongkong Authorities by 6 o'clock this evening, in order that he may be dealt with.
If you should fail to comply with this demand, which has been frequently pressed upon you within the last fortnight it will be considered whether he should not refuse to allow the Reina Christina to enjoy for any further period the same privileges as she has hitherto enjoyed within the waters of this Colony.
I have &c.,
G. J. Morrison
Colonial Secretary