138
of claim and forwarded it, together with a letter, to
the Hongkong Colonial Secretary.
The reply to this not being sutisfactory under the
circumstances, and application to the Secretary of the
the
Guild being impossible, I consulted Mr. Sandeman,
Honorary Agent in Hongkong, and it was considered advisable
to see Messrs. Wilkinson und Grist in the matter.
Mr. Reader Harris, of that firm, was of opinion
that the case was worth further correspondence through
them with the Hongkong Govern ent. This has followed, with
but little sutisfactory result. The whole correspondence
over the matter will, I believe, be forwarded to you
by Messrs. Wilkinson and Grist.
It is somewhat difficult to say what steps might be
taken to prevent these occasional piratical outbreaks.
We had arms and ammunition on board the "Tai On",
but of what use was it in the hands of three men?
I had a loaded revolver over the head of my bunk,
and had I thought of it should have taken it on deck
with me. What would have been the result? I might have
Spotted one or two of the pirates, but with their numbers
they would certainly have got me, and probably have made
a finish of all the Europeans.
mouths of the Cunton River.
I will forward wit: this report a chart of the
The piracy occurred
somewhere about south of Lintin Island, two or three
miles only from the line dividing British from Chinese
waters. I don't credit the pirates with having the
knowledge as to whether they were in British or Chinese
waters at the time of their breaking out, and I muln-
tain that it could have been carried out with equal
ease and safety ten miles further east, well into
British territorial waters.
You will notice from the chart that the first
half of the journey, viz. from Hongkong to Wong Mun
(a Chinese Customs Station) is in comparatively open
water, and during that part of the voyage we had
always felt every security. Needless to say, that
confidence is gone now. I would remark that it is a
very rare thing to see a war vessel of any nationality
during the first half of the voyage.
On the second half of the trip, from Wong Mun to
Kong Mun, through narrow waters, we have for some
months