COPY.
C. O.
258
5629
Rec'd
IS FEB
HongKong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Co., Ld.
Canton, 31st January, 1899.
R. W. Mansfield, Esquire,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul,
CANTON.
Sir,
We beg to bring to your notice the two following cases of attempted piracy on board the Lung Shan running on the West River between this Port and Wuchow.
On Friday, the 20th instant, a larger number of passengers than usual took passage at Shui Hing, on the down river trip, and amongst these was one man dressed in furs etc. and generally as a gentleman, who asked for a Second Class passage; he had a trunk with him, and as usual all the passengers coming on board were searched; nothing was found on any one but on the well-dressed individual who was found to have concealed a large number of revolvers and knives, and his trunk was found to contain a number of similar weapons. On being discovered and seeing that the ship was furnished with iron gratings etc. which were being locked, the man hailed a sampan and went ashore with his trunk. The presumption is that the unusually large number of passengers shipped at Shui Hing on that occasion were, at least in part, associates of his and that he intended at some time or other to serve out the necessary arms.
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