will have to rely on its own efforts or on the
British naval and military authorities for protection
against piracy.
6. On September 22nd, four days previous to
the seizure of the Anizing, I sent to the Commissioner
for Foreign Affairs a letter, of which a copy is
enclosed, communicating a warning from the Hongkong
police that a piracy was being planned and that it
was intended to take the ship to the Taichau inlet,
and asking that the naval and military authorities
should keer a vigilant waton near the inlet and in
Bias Bay.
My letter and its enclosure were in
Chinese as well as English and were delivered
personally by the Vice Consul with an urgent request
that immediate action should be taken, and a written
reply was received on the same day that the necessary
instructions had been issued by the military head-
quarters. Nevertheless, I ascertained after the
Anking piracy that the warning had not even been
communicated to the Canton naval headquarters, and
I doubt very much whether the military authorities
had taken any special precautions on account of it.
7. It is stated in the warning that the pirate
gang had left for Swatow, moy and Shanghai, which
makes me think that they might have embarked on the
"Anking" at Amoy or Swatow on the downward trip to
Singapore. They would thus have leisure to study
tue ship and their plan of campaign before seizing
the vessel on its next voyage northwards.
This,
however/
97