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the person robbed come to the Magistracy to state his case.
The robberies occurred during the darkness of the night, and the boatmen and people in the neighbourhood, on being summoned and questioned, all denied having heard any cries for help.
After the robbery the boats went on in due course. As there was no evidence forthcoming with regard to the circumstances of the robberies, and the numbers of cattle stolen, and nothing to show whether there were or were not other circumstances connected with the case, I was unable to report to Your Excellency and beg you to issue orders to all concerned, pressing for the arrest of the thieves and the recovery of the stolen cattle; and consequently no arrest have as yet been made.
I received a communication from Major Fi Chien-hsün in Ching Yuan District forwarding to me for examination Yu A-wei, Liu A-Yu and Liu Kuan-lin, arrested in connection with the sale of 13 head of stolen cattle, bought back by the dealers concerned, at Pai Hao-chiao in Tsung Hua Hsien. These persons were brought up before me and Yu A-wei deposed:
"I am a native of Tsung Hua Hsien, a cattle dealer by profession. On the 11th November I purchased the following cattle at Tang Tang Hsu in Ching Yuan District, viz 2 head from Liu Kuan-lin, now in Court; 1 head from Tsou A-chih and 2 head from Feng A-cheng. I also bought 4 head from the Té...