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be ready for occupation.
His Excellency having consulted with several mandarins at the table said he did not think that all the men could be there before Wednesday. I said that I would not in that case make any move before Thursday, but while I knew how anxious His Excellency was to do everything in his power I was aware that in China orders are not always carried out with necessary promptitude, I would therefore impress upon His Excellency the necessity of my being informed on Wednesday that they had been carried out to prevent my acting on Thursday. I would also request that the San-On Magistrate be ordered to personally visit the villages accompanied by other officials and issue a proclamation by order of His Excellency warning the people against disturbance or interference with any working parties or surveyors. This His Excellency promised to do.
I said I had a more pleasing duty to perform in assuring His Excellency that the Government of Hong Kong had determined to bring in an ordinance the effect of which I hoped would render opium smuggling into China almost impossible, and also that I had issued a proclamation under the provisions of which I had prevented the export of arms to China. His Excellency expressed much pleasure at this information.
The interview which had lasted over two and a half hours then ended. His Excellency apologised for being