Your telegram of 5th inst. The Consul General interviewed the Viceroy on the 11th of July and promised that if Hongkong were recognised as a sort of embarkation for Swatow and the neighbourhood the $7/3 fee should be paid on foreign emigrants and a Chinese Inspector would be allowed to inspect emigration camps and emigrant ships generally, though they would not be allowed to reside or function within the Colony.
The Viceroy replied that he had instructions from London not to permit emigration to South Africa except from Treaty Ports, and complained also that Peking had not supplied him with the regulations under Article Five of the Convention.
He declined to entertain any proposal that was at variance with the strict letter of the Convention.
I have advised the S African agents at Tientsin to send their ships north until a settlement is arrived at. I propose that steps should be taken to recognise the position of Hongkong as a sort of embarkation for South China and that it should be agreed that a European member of the staff of the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs should be appointed by the Viceroy as Inspector of emigrants at one port for S.Africa.
If it is considered to be indispensable, there is no objection to an occasional visit of inspection from a Chinese official at Canton.