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said that twenty-five pirates were on board the ill-fated vessel, and it is thought that some in addition to those men- tioned above were shot or drowned. It seems likely, that not many of the gang have escaped.
8.
therefore,
From statements made by the two informers and o
Kau it appears, (a) that two previous attempts were recently made to put arms on board the "Tai On" in Hongkong for the pur- pose of pirating her; (b) that the first attempt failed as the
vessel was in dry dock; (c) that the second attempt failed
because the arms were dumped into the harbour to avoid search
by the Police; (d) that on both occasions and on the occasion
preceding the attack on the steamer the arms were brought over
from Macao and entrusted to a member of the crew of the "Tai On"
to smuggle on board; (e) that none of the gang except the Fagin
of the party
resided in Hongkong; (f) that the head-
quarters of the gang was Macao, whence those who took part in
the attempt came on the day that the "Tai On" sailed.
9.
-
Ko Kau
-
These facts show that the organization of the
Hongkong Police in preventing pirates from making Hongkong a
base of operations; and the measures adopted to prevent arms
being smuggled on board of steamers by passengers are offective.
Ko Kau lived in a good quarter of the town,
where he rented a flat letting out the portion of it he did not
occupy. He also kept a cigarette store. He has not recently
been to sea and is in appearance a respectable man of the middle
class.
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10.
It is evident that Macao with her attractions of
gambling saloons and the security offered by the "No Man's Land" in the territory under dispute between her and China is the
place which themost dangerous pirates use as a base and as a
market wherein to get rid of their plunder. There are also
several places in the Delta in Chinese territory whose use as
bases by pirates could and should be prevented. Upon these