The Hong Kong Region
123
Pirates continued to be a local nuisance, however, and there seems to have been no end to their depredations throughout the 19th century. An inscribed tablet dated 1834 outside the Tin Hau Temple at Peng Chau, off southeast Lantau, records a petition from fishermen against the local officials' practice of using their craft as decoys to catch pirates; and the Viceroy's instruction that the commandeering of craft for this purpose should stop and that boats should be built for the work. A few years later, in the early years of the Colony, the Hong Kong authorities and the British naval forces at their disposal were constantly having to take notice of piracies and attacks, great and small, that happened on their very doorstep. The pirates of the 1840s and 1850s were often in fleets, as in Cheung Po-tsai's time.2 The Royal Navy was frequently involved in their suppression, and some major expeditions were mounted against the leading pirate fleets. Grace Fox's British Admirals and Chinese Pirates gives an interesting account of the period from the establishment of the China station in 1834 up to 1869.3 It was not until controlling legislation on the registration of native craft was enacted and enforced in the late 1860s that it became more difficult for pirate craft to operate from Hong Kong's ports.4
The local population was the usual victims of these pests. In 1856 the captain of H.M.S. Sampson reported an action off Tsing Yi, close to Hong Kong, with a number of pirate junks wearing the flag of the Taipings. They were identified as pirates with stolen property by a local fisherman and others, whereupon they were pursued by the Sampson's boats and five of their number destroyed. The boat crews freed two market craft with several passengers who had been confined by the pirates for several days, and at least one fishing boat that they had taken from its owner. Wade, then Chinese Secretary to the Hong Kong government, records (1852) how persons returning to their homes for the lunar new year preferred to travel by steamer than by passage boat, for this reason.6
1 Tablet dated Tao Kuang, 15th year, 7th month, 19th day. It was apparently one among many erected at this time in places along the Kwangtung coast.
2 See the striking account given in Illustrated London News, 28th March 1857, p. 283.
3 For local events see the chronological record for Hong Kong's early years in Mayers, Dennys and King, pp. 55-115.
4 SP 1888, p. 258.
5 Schofield papers.
6 Fox, p. 120.
THE HONG KONG REGION
123
Pirates continued to be a local nuisance, however, and there seems to have been no end to their depredations throughout the 19th century. An inscribed tablet dated 1834 outside the Tin Hau Tem- ple at Peng Chau, off southeast Lantau, records a petition from fishermen against the local officials' practise of using their craft as decoys to catch pirates; and the Viceroy's instruction that the com- mandeering of craft for this purpose should stop and that boats should be built for the work. A few years later, in the early years of the Colony, the Hong Kong authorities and the British naval forces at their disposal were constantly having to take notice of piracies and attacks, great and small, that happened on their very doorstep. The pirates of the 1840s and 1850s were often in fleets, as in Cheung Po-tsai's time.2 The Royal Navy was frequently in- volved in their suppression, and some major expeditions were mounted against the leading pirate fleets. Grace Fox's British Admirals and Chinese Pirates gives an interesting account of the period from the establishment of the China station in 1834 up to 1869.3 It was not until controlling legislation on the registration of native craft was enacted and enforced in the late 1860s that it became more difficult for pirate craft to operate from Hong Kong's ports.4
The local population was the usual victims of these pests. In 1856 the captain of H.M.S. Sampson reported an action off Tsing Yi, close to Hong Kong, with a number of pirate junks wearing the flag of the Taipings. They were identified as pirates with stolen property by a local fisherman and others, whereupon they were pursued by the Sampson's boats and five of their number destroy- ed. The boat crews freed two market craft with several passengers who had been confined by the pirates for several days, and at least one fishing boat that they had taken from its owner. Wade, then Chinese Secretary to the Hong Kong government, records (1852) how persons returning to their homes for the lunar new year pre- ferred to travel by steamer than by passage boat, for this reason.6
1 Tablet dated Tao Kuang, 15th year, 7th month, 19th day. It was apparently one among many erected at this time in places along the Kwangtung coast.
2 See the striking account given in Illustrated London News, 28th March 1857, p. 283.
3 For local events see the chronological record for Hong Kong's early years in Mayers, Dennys and King, pp. 55-115.
4 SP 1888, p. 258.
5 Schofield papers.
6 Fox, p. 120.
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