Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 778

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

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IV.-All transfers of land purchased by British subjects within the Consular District of Tientsin, but outside the limits of the British settlement, shall be made by the parties to the transfer, or their duly authorized representatives, in the presence of an officer of H.B.M. Consulate at Tientsin, or H.B.M. Vice-Consulate at Taku, and shall be registered at said Consulate, or Vice-Consulate, within one month of such transfer, under a penalty not exceeding $100.

V.-No British subject shall be allowed to establish any tavern, public-house, boarding house, or house of entertainment at Tientsin or Taku, or in the Consular district of Tientsin or Taku, without a licence from H.B.M. Consul or Vice-consul, and without paying the annual licence fee in such behalf payable, and said licence shall be granted subject at any time to revocation, should it be proved that such house or tavern is improperly conducted, or that tue immates or frequenters thereof mis- conduct themselves or act in a disorderly manner. Persons convicted of a breach of this regulation shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $100.

VI.—All British vessels entering port shall anchor at Taku or Tientsin only in such places as the harbour-master, or other person duly authorised by the custom- house authorities, shall appoint, and whenever any one of the said vessels is about to leave port, shall hoist the blue peter at least 24 hours before the time appointed for her departure. Each breach of this regulation shall be punishable by a fine not ex- ceeding $50.

VII.-Every British vessel shall show her colours on entering port, and keep them hoisted.until she has been reported, and her papers have been lodged at either the Vice-Consulate at Taku or the Consulate at Tientsin: and the master of every British vessel arriving at Taku, a steamer bound up the river of Tientsin excepted, shall deposit his ship's papers, together with a summary of the manifest of the cargo, at H.B.M. Vice-Consulate of Taku, within 48 hours if in the inner anchorage, and within 72 if in the outer, unless a Sunday or holiday should intervene. Masters shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding $200 for each breach of this regulation.

VIII.-Every British sailing vessel, whether intending to pass up the river to Tientsin or not, shall report at the Vice-Consulate at Taku, and lodge her papers there. Provided that, if a sailing vessel passes up the river to Tientsin, she shall take up with her the "ship's articles," and deposit said document at the Consulate at Tientsin. Said articles shall be handed back to the master, when the vessel is about to return to Taku, where she shall receive her other papers and port clearance at the Vice-Consulate.

IX.-British steamers bound for Tientsin shall not be required to report and lodge their papers at Taku, but may report and clear at Tientsin. Provided that if a steamer bound for Tientsin remain for more than three hours at Taku, unless she can show reasonable cause for so doing, she shall report and lodge her papers at H.B.M. Vice- Consulate there, under a penalty not exceeding $200 for each breach of this regulation.

X.-Should any vessel, the property of a British subject, but not provided with a certificate of registry or other recognized pass, boist the British ensign within the anchorages, or should she exhibit within such limits any flag so similar to the British ensign as not to be clearly distinguished from it, the master of such vessel shall be liable for every such offence to a penalty not exceeding $100.

XI.-The discharge of guns and other firearms from British vessels in the anchorages is prohibited under a penalty not exceeding $50 for each offence.

XII.-No British vessel laden with gunpowder, or other dangerous combustible materials, shall be allowed to anchor within one mile of the British settlement at Tientsin, under a penalty not exceeding $200.

XIII.-Stones, ballast, or cinders shall not be thrown overboard from British vessels at Tientsin anchorage, under a penalty of $50 for every such offence, nor shall the bodies of seamen, or other persons dying on board British vessels in either the Tientsin or Taku anchorage, be thrown overboard, under a like penalty of $50 for every such offence.

XIV.--All masters of British vessels shall, so far as English law permits, be held accountable for the conduct of their crews on ́shore, and shall not give their