Directory_and_Chronicle_1868 — Page 583

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300

PORT, CONSULAR, CUSTOMS, AND HARBOUR REGULATIONS. &o.

The limits within which the shipment and discharge of cargo can take place, except by special permission, are, from off the British Cemetery, the old bridge of boats, and the salt gate ferry.

II. The consular office will be open for public business from 10 o'clock A.M. to 4 P.M. daily; excepting on Sundays and public holidays.

III-Every British vessel must shew her colours on entering the port, and keep them hoisted until sunset of the day of arrival.

IV. Within twenty-four hours after arrival, the ship's papers, bills of lading, list of European passengers, &c., shall be lodged in the hands of the Consul, who will, within a further period of 24 hours, report to the superintendent of customs the name of the ship, her register tonnage, and the nature of her cargo. If, owing to neglect on the part of the master, the above rule is not complied with within 48 hours after the ship's arrival, he shall be liable to a fine of fifty taels for every day's delay; the total amount of penality, however, shall not exceed two hundred taels.

The master will be responsible for the correctness of the manifest, which shall contain a full and true account of the particulars of the cargo on board. For presenting a false manifest, he will subject himself to a fine of two hundred taels; but he will be allowed to correct, within twenty-four hours after delivery of it to the customs officers, any mistake he may discover in his manifest, without incurring this penalty.

V.---Masters of vessels may grant leave of absence to their officers and men, for recreation in the Keangpeh or foreign settlement; but if permission be granted the men to visit the town of Chinhai or city of Ningpo and environs, they must be accompanied by an officer, who will be conjointly responsible for the conduct of such liberty men. Should any seaman absent himself without leave, the master will forthwith report the circumstance at the consulate, and take immediate steps for the recovery of the absentee. The master will subject himself to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25) for any breach of this rule.

VI.--Masters of vessels are strictly prohibited from granting liberty on any pretence; to their men to proceed into the interior, under a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars (850), and any British subject proceeding into the interior over one hundred li, without passport. shall be liable to a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50), or one month's imprisonment,

VII. The discharge of guns or other firearms from vessels in harbour, as also the improper display of arms on shore among the villages and people, is strictly prohibited and may be punishable by fine and imprisonment, or either, and the confiscation of the

arins.

VIII.—All cases of death occurring on board of vessels in harbour, or in the resi dences of British subjects on shore, must be immediately reported at the Consulate office. No seaman or person belonging to a British ship may be discharged or left behind at Ningpo or the other open ports, without the express sanction of the Consul.

IX.-Vessels with Gunpowder or other combustibles on board, in excess of what is essential for their legal armament, are prohibited from entering the anchorage, or anchor- ing within a distance of one mile from it.

X.-Stone or ballast shall not be thrown overboard in the river.

XI.—When a British vessel is ready to leave port, the master shall hoist the blue- peter twenty-four hours before the time of her departure; and in order to clear at the Consulate, lie will procure from the custom house a grand chop, which, on depositing at the Consulate with copy of his export manifest, he will receive back his ship's papers, and an English port clearance, on payment of the regular fees. Upon returning to his vessel, and before weighing his anchor, he will be careful to ascertain that his crew are all present, and that there are no stow-aways or secreted persons on board.

XII.--All offences against the persons or property of individuals, or breaches of the peace, must immediately be reported at the Consulate office. Any foreigner or Chinese subject guilty of a misdemeanour on shore, or afloat, may be detained on detection, but information must in such cases be forthwith lodged at the Chinese office, and in no instance shall British subjects be permitted to punish offenders.

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