474
the Temple in the Temple under the custody of a guard of soldiers, we made a visit to Pan Chung, the village adjacent to the spot where the matsheds were erected, but the door of every house in the village was locked from the outside and not a person could be found. Their absence is good presumptive evidence of their guilt.
Even the female occupants of an isolated house not more than 200 yards away from where one of the matsheds had been burnt said they knew nothing of the affairs.
The shed where the workmen who built the sheds lived and to which Mr. May retreated when driven from the Temple had been burnt down and the remains were still smouldering when we arrived.
A post was found near the spot where the matshed had been burnt down with the characters Chung Fuk Shing Ho on one side and Chung Fuk Shing Ho Wai on the other, meaning that the site belonged to Chung Fuk Shing, which shows that the man claimed the property as his own.
The elders who had been kept in the Temple were brought down to the point on the shore where the burnt shed had been erected. On their arrival, His Excellency the General Officer Commanding addressed them, stating that soldiers despatched by the Viceroy would arrive shortly and deal with those who had been guilty of attacking Mr. May and his party and of burning the matshed, and that His Excellency the Governor