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defence of Canton.
On October 18th I received a communication from
the Special Delegate for Foreign Affairs informing me that
certain temporary measures regarding resumption of navigation
had been approved by the Pacification Commissioner (General
Yu Han-mou) and would come into force on October 20th.
There were difficulties about the interpretation of the
regulations, and eventually they were issued by the Harbour
Master in the form of which copy is enclosed. It was
originally intended by the Military authorities that all
cargo should be transhipped at a point (Tiger Island) just above Bocca Tigris (43 miles below Canton) and brought to
and from Canton by tugs and lighters. Resumption of
navigation on this basis would not have helped Canton-Hong
Kong river trade at all, and has proved of very little use
to coasting vessels even without any attempt so far at
interference by the Japanese. in the interval since October
10th, Messrs. Butterfield & Swire have despatched 3 coasting
vessels and Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Company 1 such vessel from this down-river anchorage, (which Admiral Feng was
induced to bring meanwhile a few miles nearer Canton in a
more sheltered anchorage), each with a full cargo of bananas
and fruit, and Messrs. Butterfield and Swire have had one
vessel inwards with 500 tons of general cargo from Shanghai.
As a result of strong representations, through traffic was
conceded; and hence the "interpretation" of Regulation No. 3
(see enclosure 1).
k
10. It will be seen that the regulations confined
navigation to a certain channel, known as Hill Passage, in which junks and other vessels had been sunk, and traffic
had become nominally impossible except through one narrow
entrance in that channel. The usual channel up the main
stream
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