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18. The whole of the Chinese raw opium seized was the produce of Yunnan. It is doubtful if any came from Kweichow province; it is not yet known how the produce of the latter can be distinguished, and so far as is known it has never come to this Colony nor has any mention ever been made of it in any of the thousands of documents relating to opium which have been examined by me during the past 12 years. It may well be that it is blended with Yunnan in Kwangsi and sold as such, the quality being reckoned as distinctly inferior.
19. A new type of Chinese raw opium was encountered during the year, in several seizures. It occurred in stone-hard blocks each weighing exactly one pound. It was blackish with a blackbrown fructure. Each brick was covered with Chinese cream-coloured soft texture wrapping paper,
on which was stamped the Chinese characters meaning number two." On first breaking no smell of opium was apparent, but on slightly warming the typical smell of Yunnan raw opium was at once apparent. The shape of the bricks and the weight corresponded with that of Persian opium, but the interior appearance was distinct. Ordinary raw Yunnan opium had apparently been heated to drive off all moisture, and the result then melted and pressed into bricks while still hot. The place of manufacture could not be ascertained, but there was some evidence that it came to Hong Kong from Pakhoi, a port from which in former years a considerable amount of Yunnan opium was exported to this Colony. None of the seizures were made on any import- ing ship.
Persian Opium.
20. There were six seizures of Persian opium, only one of which was found on the importing vessel, a junk which had come direct from Macau to the island of Cheung Chow where the opium was seized.
Smuggling to Malaya by Japanese Motor Schooners.
21. As the result of information received a considerable amount of time was devoted to the investigation of snuggling by Japanese motor schooners to Malaya. As the result indirectly of information given by this office part of the opium landed from a Japanese motor schooner was seized on Islands off the East coast of Johore about 150 miles from Singapore. It had been known to the Singapore Monopoly Department that at least three such vessels had already landed opium nearby, but no large seizures had been made. These tiny craft may be seen frequently anchored off Wanchai; they are generally manned by Formosans with a Japanese captain, and they have long been a source of trouble here as they rarely enter or clear unless com. pelled to do so. Until recently their chief source of income has been smuggling into China, but after the capture of several by Chinese Customs cruisers they seem to have diverted their
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smuggling propensities to Malaya. These craft in a calm sea have a fair speed, and seem to be proof against typhoons and the North East monsoon, though in appearance they are the frailest of craft.
Prepared Opium.
22. Of the Red Lion brand seized at least 8,200 taels were destined for export and were seized on the point of being con- veyed out of the port, and it is probable that little of the re- mainder, 2,800 taels, was actually intended for consumption here. For during the drive against opium divans mentioned below not one single tin of Red Lion was found in use. In former years this brand was the one most commonly found in any house searched for opium, but during the year this brand completely disappeared from the local market, doubtless owing to the cheapness of Chinese raw opium. Most of that given in Table XIV under the heading doubtful was found in divans and had been prepared on the premises or elsewhere in the Colony from Chinese raw opium. Only one comparatively small amount of Red Lion was found on a vessel coming from Macau direct, quite different from past years when few ships coming direct from Macau failed to have some Red Lion on board. Wuchow maintained a steady supply, mostly in small quantities at a time, the total amount differing little from past years.
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Opium Divans.
23. From the end of April till the end of October a con- centrated drive was made against divans, the results being tabulated in Appendix I. The results would have been still more outstanding had not sickness caused the withdrawal of two of the European Officers concerned. Attention was concentrated on the larger divans using four or more lamps. The small one and two lamps divans were only dealt with when found by ac- cident. If the number of pipes seized were multiplied by six a minimum total would be arrived at for the number of smokers of illicit opium amongst the lower classes, this would give a total of 32,000 smokers. Most of the divans had been in exist- ence some time, and had a regular list of patrons who had ledger accounts and only paid occasionally in lump sums as con- venient. It was common to find divans with 20 to 30 ledger accounts as well as a larger number of casual smokers, who paid cash for their opium. The gaol accommodation soon be- came overcrowded and large numbers had to be released to Few permit of the newly convicted keepers being taken in'. fines were paid as the real owner of the divan was rarely caught. The coolie in charge known in Chinese as the T'ai Tang," the lamp watcher, was the man who went to prison. Imprisonment had no deterrent effect whatsoever, unless he was a heavy opium smoker, in which case he would rarely be trusted with the run- ning of a divan.
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