Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 680

CHINESE PASSENGERS' ACT.

243

RULES.

1. The Master of a Chinese Passenger ship enters into a Bond of One Thousand Pounds that every and all of the Requirements of the Chinese Passengers' Act, and of the Regulations issued under the Act, or by the Legislature of Hongkong, shall be well and truly observed.

2. These Regulations apply more especially to the accommodation, medical attendance, and regular daily issue of provisions, fuel, and water. It is, therefore, the Master's interest, and he should make it his especial care, to see that the fittings are strong, and that the full quantity of provisions, medicine, and medical comforts, fuel, and water, are on board; and, that after these articles are on board and have been passed by the proper Officer from this Office, they are carefully and securely stowed away.

3. When the articles above-mentioned are stowed away, the Emigration Officer will, if necessary, cause the hatches, &c., to be sealed down. These seals must not be broken until the ship is beyond the waters of the Colony.

4. Emigration under contract of service is prohibited, unless the ship shall be proceeding to a British Colony.

5. When a ship is about to convey Chinese Passengers, the Master is to notify the Emigration Officer, in writing, to that effect, naming the Licensed Passage Broker authorised to issue Passage Tickets, and forwarding, at the same time, a copy of the Government Surveyor's Certificate of Measurement.

6. The vessel will then be inspected by the Emigration Officer, who will pass or reject her as he shall see fit.

7. When the vessel is passed, the Agent or Charterer will make the usual application for a Licence, on a form to be obtained at this Office, and, if granted, the Master, with two approved Sureties, must attend at the Emigration Office and execute the Bond required under Section IV. of "The Chinese Passengers' Act."

8. When the ship's voyage is approved, she is to be fitted with such berths, booby hatches, ladders, hospital, privies, &c., as may be directed by the Emigration Officer.

9. If the vessel is to carry Female Passengers, a place separated from the Male Passengers must be appropriated to their use, conveniences for them being placed aft. 10. Between the bunks of married couples there must be a division board not less than 22 inches high.

11. When the provisions are taken in, they must not be stowed away without the sanction of the Emigration Officer, who will not pass (in vessels about to proceed or voyages of over thirty (30) days' duration) any Chinese preserved Beef or Pork, nor Fish cured with their entrails remaining in them.

12. The water should be taken on board at an early period to admit of the casks taking up.

13. The Master will make arrangements with his Passege Broker for providing his vessel with properly qualified Surgeons and Interpreters, one of each being required for every Two Hundred (200) Passengers, but in the event of an European or American Surgeon being engaged for the voyage, only one Surgeon is needed. Chinese Doctors must undergo an examination at Canton as to their qualifications.

14. If the vessel is a Steamer, she must be supplied with such quantity and quality of Coals as the Emigration Officer shall direct, and a certificate must be pro- duced that the Engines and Boilers are in good condition for the contemplated voyage. 15. If the vessel is fitted with an approved Distilling Apparatus, she may carry a reduced quantity of water in casks or tanks.

16. When the ship is ready to receive the Passengers on board, the Passage Broker will bring a written notice to that effect from the Master, when a time will be fixed for the attendance of the Passengers at the Emigration Office to have their Contracts or Passage Tickets (as the case may be) signed and explained to them by the Emigration Officer.