Directory_and_Chronicle_1901 — Page 434

376

PORT REGULATIONS, &c.

V. Should any seaman absent himself from his ship without permission, the master shall forthwith report the circumstance at the Consulate office, and take the necessary measures for the recovery of the absentee, and it shall be lawful for the Consul, if circumstances shall require it, in his discretion to prohibit leave being given to seamen to come ashore, and any master who shall violate such prohibition shall incur the penalties hereinafter declared.

VI. The discharge of guns or other firearms from vessels in harbour is strictly prohibited, unless permission shall have been granted by the Consul.

VII.-Masters of vessels when reporting their arrival at a port shall notify in writing the names of all passengers and persons not forming part of the articled crew on board, and previous to leaving, notice must be given of the names of all persons, not forming part of the articled crew, intending to leave the port on board any vessel.

VIII. All cases of death occurring at sea must be reported to the Consul within 24 hours of the vessel's arriving in port or harbour, and all cases of death on board vessels in harbour, or in the residences of British subjects on shore, must be imme- diately reported at the Consulate office, and in the event of sudden or accidental death the fullest information obtainable should be given. It is strictly prohibited to throw overboard the bodies of seamen or other persons dying on board of a vessel in harbour. Except in case of urgent necessity, no burial should take place on shore or from any ship in harbour without the license of the Consul first obtained.

IX.-Stone or ballast shall not be thrown overboard in any port or harbour, unless permission shall have been first obtained from the local authorities through the intervention of Her Majesty's Consular officer.

X.-All cases of loss of property by theft or fraud on board ships, as well as of assault or felony requiring redress or involving the public peace, must be immediately reported at the Consulate office.

If any Chinese subject guilty of, or suspected of, having committed a mis- demeanour on shore or afloat be detained, information must in such cases be forthwith lodged at the Consulate office, and in no instance shall British subjects be per- mitted to use violence toward Chinese offenders or to take the law into their own hands.

XI. -Any vessel having in the whole above 200lbs. of gunpowder or other explosive material on board shall not approach nearer than a distance of one mile from the limits of the anchorage. On arriving at that distance, she must be forthwith reported to the Consular authority.

Special anchorages or stations will be assigned for such ships in the neighbour. hood of the ports,

XII. No seaman or other person belonging to a British ship may be discharged or left behind at any port or anchorage without the express sanction of the Consul, and not then until sufficient security shall have been given for his maintenance and good behaviour while remaining on shore, and, if required, for the expenses incident to his shipment to a port in the United Kingdom or to a British Colonial port, according as the seaman or other person is a native of Great Britain or of any British Colony.

If any British subject left at a port or anchorage by a British vessel be found to require public relief prior to the departure of such vessel from the dominions of the Emperor of China, the vessel will be held responsible for the maintenance and removal from China of such British subject.

XIII.--When a vessel is ready to leave a port anchorage, the master or con- signee shall apply at the Custom-house for a Chinese port clearance, and on his presenting this document, together with a copy of the manifest of his export cargo, at the Consular office, his ship's papers will be returned to him, and he will be furnished with a Consular port clearance, on receiving which the vessel will be at liberty to leave the port. Should any vessel take in or discharge cargo subsequent to the issue of the Customs' clearance, the master will be subject to a penalty, and the ship to such detention as may be necessary to the ends of justice.