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intending passengers are waiting in the inns under
the care of the passage brokers. These brokers
have a stock of passage tickets on credit, and when
they know which steamer will be the first to leave,
they issue the necessary tickets to their clients
and put them on board. They would certainly
taboo a steamer where mustering, inspecting, or
other formalities were necessary. At these ports,
moreover, it frequently happens that a steamer
comes into port late in the evening, and leaves
again at daylight, with several hundreds of passengers:
so that consular inspection could not take
place without detaining the steamer, and where
there is so much competition detention would mean
that her passengers would be transferred to a more
convenient steamer.
(Signed)
I have &c.,
B. Brenan.