222
[8th witness Lai Pak-yau.]
24
600. Can you tell us the name of your native place? Macao.
601. Now in September this year did your junk sail on a fishing expedition? Yes, sir. 602. Where did she sail from? We went first from Hong Kong to San Mei. 603. And from San Mei? From San Mei we went to off the lighthouse at Chelong. 604. And when did you arrive there? September 22nd.
605. What time of the day did you arrive there? Between and 8 a.m, when we
arrived at Chelong on September 22nd.
1
606. Well now, where had you been the night before? The night before we had
been in San Mei and we sailed from San Mei towards Chelong,
607. What time did you start fishing on the morning of the 22nd? At daybreak we
arranged our fishing nets.
608. Were there other junks fishing near you? Yes.
609. Can you remember how many? Five or six pairs.
610. Whilst you were fishing that morning did you notice anything unusual? What
happened was that a boat was firing at us.
611. What sort of a boat was it that was firing? A submarine.
612. Have you seen submarines before-anywhere, I'mean? Yes,
marines before.
have seen sub-
613. Where? Somewhere near that lighthouse, somewhere off Waglan lighthouse. 614. And this vessel was like those submarines you had seen before? Yes. 615. Chairman : What was the colour? Green; no, grey.
616. Mr. Whyatt: How far was she away when you first noticed her? Somewhere
twenty cheung away.
617. When you first noticed her? When I first noticed her she was very far away. 618. After you first saw her, did you see her firing?
to us.
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[8th witness Lai Pak-yau.] [9th witness Yeung Yat-hei.]
630. And what did you do? I went to the mainsail and the sail floated off.
631. Yes? And the sail floated off.
632. How long did you remain on the mainsail? Five days and five nights. 633. What happened to you at the end of that time? At about 3 a.m, on the 29th
September a German vessel picked us up.
634. Are you quite sure what day of the month it was that you were picked up by the
German vessel? Oh, it was on the morning of the 27th.
635. Where did that German vessel take you to? She brought us back here to Hong
Kong.
636. Do you happen to know the name of that German vessel? I do not know the
name of that vessel.
637 (Witness left the witness box).
638. Mr. Whyatt: If it is convenient I should like to call the master of the third pair of junks, Yeung Yat-hei. It is a little out of order because I passed the third pair and got on to the sixth pair, but this junk master came into Hong Kong only yesterday and I did not have an opportunity of reading his evidence.
639. Ninth Witness. Yeung Yat-hei, duly declared, states :— 640. Mr. Whyatt: Yeung Yat-hei, you are 34 years of age? Yes, sir. 641. And you were the master of a fishing junk? Yes, sir.
642. And what was the number of that junk?
643. Where was it licensed? At Shaukiwan.
644. And is Shaukiwan your home port? Yes.
No. 615.
No, only when she was close
645. Can you tell us where you were born? I was born at Ping Hoi.* 646. You remember sailing on a fishing expedition in September this year? Yes, sir. 647. Where did you sail from? We first sailed from Shaukiwan on September 5th. 648. And where did you sail to? We went slowly, and gradually we arrived at San
Mei because there was fine weather and the sea was calm.
619. When she came close to you, I understand you to say, she was only twenty
cheung away? Yes, that is so.
620. Well now, did you notice any men aboard her when she came close to you?
Yes, I saw some men on board.
621. What sort of men? They were wearing white dress, they were in build like the
Chinese, short built.
622. You say they were like the Chinese in build, were they like the Chinese in any
other respect? In no other respect like Chinese than in build.
623. Did you see their faces? Not very clearly. I saw them; there were between ten
and twenty and some were working at the guns.
624. Did they fire at your junk? Yes, sir.
625. How many shots did they fire at your junk? Three shots.
626. And whereabouts were you on board the junk when the shots struck the junk? I
was at the bottom of the main hold of the junk.
627. Did anything happen to you when you were in the main hold at the bottom of the
junk? I was injured here (indicating left arm at the elbow).
628. What was it that injured your elbow? Splinters of broken wood hit my elbow. 629. After the three shots had been fired what happened to your junk? She sank.
649. Where were you on September 21st, can you remember? We were at Pak Sha
Wu.
650. Is that near to San Mei? Quite close to San Mei.
In the evening
651. Did you sail anywhere from Pak Sha Wu on September 21st?
of the 21st September we sailed from Pak Sha Wu slowly towards a lighthouse.
652. And what is the name of the lighthouse? Chelong lighthouse.
653. Were there any other vessels sailing with yours? There were several others. We
were sailing along, and we met other pairs of fishing junks. 654. Chairman: How many in all? Six pairs in all. 655. Mr. Whyatt:
September.
When did you start fishing? At daybreak, on
the 22nd of
656. At that place where you started fishing could you see Chelong lighthouse? No, I
could not see it in the day time.
657. Did you see it during the night previous?
I saw the lighthouse as well as the light.
* Chinese territory.
Yes, I saw it the evening previous.
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