388
procedure whereby his own confession was necessary to
t
his punishment did not obtain.
magistrate did not conceal his satisfaction at hav-
ing at last secured their arrest.
I would call
special attention to a remark made by this official
at the trial of the two prisoners.
Their admis-
sion of so many crimes made the production of evi-
dence unnecessary.
It transpired, however, in the
case of Kuan Kuel Hung that he denied having taken
part in the piracy of the Chên Ch'uan Kuan San 11-
censed passenger boat, one of the two charges upon
which his extradition had been granted. On receiv-
ing his denial, the Magistrate informed him that
according to Hongkong law he could be punished for
his crime on the strength of the evidence, and that
his own confession was therefore unnecessary
This statement of the Namho1 Magistrate's in
open Court was so thorough an acceptation of the
principle insisted upon as a result of the "Perse-
verance' case that I at once addressed the prisoner
in the same sense and explained to him that, having
been extradited from Hongkong, the ordinary proce-
The Magistrate, however, still appeared anxious
to secure Kuan Kuei Hung's admission to this particu-
lar offence;
but,
on my informing him that I was
quite satisfied with his confession to the second
charge upon which he had been extradited and to so
many other crimes, he allowed the matter to drop.
On the 7th instant I again attended the Magis-
trate's Yamên, when the charges against the prisoners
which they had admitted at the first hearing were
read over to them in the presence of the Viceroy's
Deputy. They both admitted their guilt and were
sentenced to decapitation.
The sentence was carried out on the 28th in-
stant in the presence of the Namho1 Magistrate and
myself. Both criminals were strong and healthy and
free from the influence of drugs.
that no attempt at torture was made.
I am satisfied
This is the first trial of extradition prisoners
since His Excellency the Viceroy consented to adopt,
in
dure