CO129-216 - Governor Sir Bowen - 1884 [5-6] — Page 219

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of

their evidence husbands; and as under

as their

to

But no

know the whole matter.

Missionary from the

of

the

spot was

produced

witnesses, and the

only

the special provisions local law of strangers (Ordinance

18 of 1843), the husbands, the prisoners themselves are competent to give

evidence,

I think that the evidence

of

these

women way

taken for what it is worth. But it should be borne in mind that they have the strongest possible interest in the matter, and that

for that reason their testimony does not carry much weight.

3. Bishop Raimondi stated

in his

letter

of

December

18, 1883 that his Missionaries

came

to the spot where the

took place, and that therefore he was in a position

to

Missionary who was produced

is Luigi Prazgoli who appears to know very

the matter.

4. As the

accused

knew little about

the crime

in this instance

three (3) witnesses only (all brothers) were called for the prosecution. Their evidence is direct to the point, but their story is very slight; it is told without

any

description

of the circumstances and really amounts

to hardly

more than

an accusation

coupled with identification

of the persons accused. On the subsequent inquiry three (3) more witnesses were called

for the prosecution, but they