58
Mail" containing the observations of the Chief Justice
on this subject two days ago.
6. The incident at Aberdeen on the
evening of the 31st. May, was very curious, and interest-
ing as illustrating the tenacity with which all peasants
cling to old superstitions. The custom of burying the
living with the dead existed in China in the time of Con-
fucius, and in the casting of bells or of cannon there
are traditions of human blood being used, or even of a
boy and a girl being cast into the Molten metal repre-
senting the thorough blending of the Yang and the Yin.
It is widely believed throughout China that foreigners
use the bodies of children in the foundations of impor-
tant works to insure stability, and I am informed that in
India the same belief exists and excites widespread al-
arm when a great bridge is in contemplation. Nor can we
wonder at these baseless fears in China when we remember
the pertinacity with which tales of human sacrifices by
the Jews are told and accepted in parts of Europe to the
present day. When the Peak Tramway was built here in 1884
all the children (Chinese) were kept away from school for
a fortnight Lest they should be kidnapped and used as
foundations under the sleepers. About the end of May,
the Chinese, I am informed,were told that the Railway
from Kowloon to Canton was about to be constructed, and
the fisherren of Aberdeen, a small fishing Village sit-
«uated on the South side of the island, were warned by
some mischievous person who has not been discovered, that the Government projected a raid upon them for the purpose of carrying off their children to be immolated for the benefit of the Railway. Aberdeen is resorted to by large numbers of fishing junka, many of which carry
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