the vessel from the pirates whe were in unlawful
possesion of her. Had he abstained from so
deing the pirates would no doubt have profitod
by his inactivity to destroy the ship by fire,
in accordance with their usual practice in
o&ses where their operations were interfered with,
and with the threat which they had actually
bade in the ease of the
#
Irene*
I have
already pointed out that it is probable that
the spread of the fire which shortly afterwards
broke out on the "Irene" vas caused by the
pirates themselves, and that the loss of
innocent life which unfortun、tely occurred was
due to a panic among the passengers.
And in
view of the language which both ar. Bu and
Your Excellency have employed to describe the
action of the Commander of the submarine in opening
fire, it is material to point out that so far as
His lajesty's Government are aware there is no
evidence that any of the passengers or orew of
the "Irene" received any injuries from shell fire.
If
37
Page 40Page 41