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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 3RD DECEMBER, 1879.

Harbour Mas- ter or deputy may require, before grant- lug a port clearance to ship. the master thereof to search for suspected de- serters, and to make declara- tion of such search. Penalty for not complying with such request. [Ordinance 6 of 1852, sec. 11.)

Offences of foreign

seamen.

(See M. S. A., 1854, sec. 243.]

Act of dis- obedience.

Continued disobedience.

Combining to disobey.

Expenses by whom pay- able. {Ordinance 4

of 1850, 660. 5.]

Deaths. desertions, or removals of seamen, &c. to be reported. [Ordinance 1

of 1862, sec. 7.]

Penalties for

forging of do- cuments, and for false der- criptions and statements. (Ordinance No. 6 of 1852, Jec. 12.)

Relief of sen- men belonging to vessels rem gistered in this Colony, [Ordinance 5

of 1869, sec. 1.]

4. The Harbour Master, or his deputy, before granting a port clearance to any ship, may, if he have reasonable grounds for belief that any deserter from a merchant vessel be con- cealed on board of such ship, proceed on board thereof and then and there require her master to institute due and diligent search for such deserter, and further, if he deem it necessary, require the master to make oath or solemn declaration that to the best of his knowledge and belief, after due and dili- gent search, no such deserter is concealed within or about his ship; and any master of a ship refusing or unnecessarily delaying to comply with such requisition, shall be liable, upon conviction, to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars, and to imprisonment until such fine be paid.

5. Whenever any seaman engaged in any foreign ship commits any of the following offences within the waters of the Colony, he shall be liable to be punished summarily by a Stipendiary Magistrate as follows, that is to say :-

(a.) For wilful disobedience to any lawful command, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding four weeks, with or without hard labour, and also, at the discretion of the Court, to forfeit, out of his wages, a sum not exceeding two days' pay;

(b.) For continued wilful disobedience to lawful com- mands, or continued wilful neglect of duty, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding twelve weeks, with or without hard labour, and also, at the discretion of the Court, to forfeit, for every twenty-four hours' continuance of such disobedience or neglect either a sum not exceeding six days' pay, or any expenses which have been incurred in hiring a substitute; (c.) For combining with any other or others of the crew to disobey lawful commands, or to neglect duty, or to impede the navigation of the ship, or the progress of the voyage, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding twelve weeks, with or without hard labour:

Provided that when there is a Consul, Vice-Consul, or Con- sular Agent resident at Hongkong of the nation to which the ship belongs, the Court shall not deal with the case unless thereto requested by such officer in writing.

6. All expenses incidental to the apprehension, confine- ment, and removal of any seaman, under this section, shall be paid by the master of the ship to which such seaman may belong, and be recoverable from him at the suit of the Captain Superintendent of Police, as a debt due to the Gov- ernment of this Colony; and the subsistence money for every such seaman confined in gaol shall be paid in advance to the keeper of the gaol, and in default of such payment, the gaoler may release such seaman: Provided that every seaman imprisoned under this chapter may be sent on board his ship prior to her departure from the waters of the Co- lony by direction of the Governor.

Report of Death, Desertion, &c.

XXI. In the event of the death of any of the passengers, or other persons, occurring on board of any merchant ves- sel in the waters of the Colony, or in case of the death, desertion or removal of any of the crew, the master of such vessel shall forthwith report the same to the Harbour Mas- ter, under a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars for every death, desertion, or removal which he shall neglect to report.

Penalties for Forgery, &c.

XXII. Any seaman, or other person, who shall give a false description of his services, or show, or make, or procure to be made, any false character, or shall make false statements as to the name of the last ship in which he served, or as to any other information which may be required of him by any person having lawful authority to demand such information, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars.

CHAPTER X.

DISTRESSED SEAMEN,

XXIII. All expenses which shall be incurred under the provisions of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854,” in the relief of distressed British seamen who at the time of such relief being granted shall have last served in a British ship registered in this Colony, and all expenses incurred in the United Kingdom in the relief and returning to this Colony all distressed seamen who last served in such a ship, shall he borne by the revenue of this Colony.