194
7
746
-ble, hard-working, loyal, honest, Portuguese, with a few Chinese Writers and "Shroffs"; and these men, with one exception, (he had just been pensioned, after nearly 40 years' service in the Depart- -ment), were still in the office when I arrived, in 1899, to take up the appointment of Assistant Farbour Master. Shortly aferwards, changes began to be made by the Colonial Secretary, and one by one our efficient Portuguese were taken away, in spite of protests by the then Harbour Master, and by me, acting in that capacity, and their places were filled by Chinese who, however useful and esti- -nable they may have been in other Departments, were unable to adapt themselves to the conditions obtaining in the Parbour Office. Tre reasons given for removing the Portuguese, who had spent their lives in the harbour Department, and were thoroughly conversant with the somewhat difficult technicalities of their specialised work, were that they might receive promotion, and that it was neces- -sary to have one clerical service for the whole of the Civil Ser- -vice of the Colony, for promotion purposes. These officers had
not applied for promotion, and they left the Harbour Department against their will. In the case of the first two, (Messrs: D'Almad e Castro and Cordeiro), it was explained to me that they were urgent- -ly required in the Colonial Secretariat, where they were in need of efficient clerks; but neither of them received any increase in salary by the change.
6. The three senior Portuguese clerks, however, were left to us, and the work of the Department continued to be despatched with its previous diligence and efficiency. In 1903, Mr (now Sir
Henry