65
-3-
The Revenue Launch "Yeungshing" recently approached "within hailing distance of three suspicious looking
junks when suddenly without any warning the junks "opened fire at point blank range. The "Young shing" "was struck at least 13 times by small cannon balls,
"rivet heads, and rifle bullots, and iron railing
"round the searchlight being carried away, life-
"buoy torn open, gig holed, funnel hit, door to
"engine room holed by cannon ball and other minor
"damage done. Fortunately, there were no actual
"casualties among the crow one sailor received "a bullet through his cap.
"we may not be so lucky.
ii
Next time, however,
Now, our Revenue Launches operating in the Kowloon and .
Lappa District are equipped with a few obsolete weapons
for which it is very difficult now to obtain fresh supplics
of ammunition i.c., the guns are obsolete and no more
ammunition is made for them! Under the conditions
cxisting previous to the introduction of the now Tariff,
the Officers in charge of these vessels were rarely, or never, obliged to resort to the use of weapons in carrying
out proventive work, and the Customs, moreover, always
discouraged the use of force in order to avoid complications
in case of wounding the junk people. As the more sight
of these weapons on the Launches was enough, in former days
when