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Q-If you had sent up to get more cattle than were in the Depôt you could have got them without difficulty I suppose?
A.-Oh yes, I think so.
Q. Are there any other districts besides these?
A. The majority of the cattle come from the West River, the North River, from Hoifung and a few from Hoihow.
Q.-One of the witnesses told us that the Hoifung cattle were by far the best cattle. He told us also that these cattle could only be brought down here at a certain season. Is that correct?
A.-They are brought in all the time. day before yesterday and early this morning. land, in the N. E. Monsoon by junk.
There were very fine lots came down the In the S. W. Monsoon they come over-
Q. Do you think there is any necessity to improve the means of communication so as to make it easy for these men to bring down the cattle?
A. Yes. In my opinion the pirates have a good deal to do with cattle being scarce from time to time.
Q. When the Chairman asked you about the general stalls you were evidently against them. It could be quite possible to supervise them, would it not?
A.--I don't think it could be possible. They are absolutely outside the Market. Mr. Francis.--Is there any necessity for a wholesale meat market?
A.-I don't think that would do in an Asiatic town.
Dr. Hartigan, We have heard evidence about the difficulty of feeding cattle in the New Territory and one of the points was that the grass that would be required to feed them was all used up in smoking and burning bottoms of junks. Is that so?
A. That is all rubbish.
Q. And there is no reason why we should not have cattle on the New Territory?
A.-Not a bit. I say the New Territory ought to provide 10,000 cattle.
Q.-That would bring the consumer into much more direct contact with the
grower
A. Yes. At the present time the producer of cattle in many cases is 200 or 300 miles away.
Mr. Francis.-Would you not be inclined to say that that is an argument against it ? That shows that the supply of cattle in the rich country round Canton is compa- ratively small when they have to go so far to get the cattle they want.
A.-It certainly shows that the supply is very poor, but it does not prove that it need be. It is simply want of enterprise or more likely want of capital.
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Mr. Osborne. In regard to the Slaughter-house who actually kills the beast-the man who owns the beast, or his agent, or the farmer?
A. The regulations provide that the farmer has to provide butchers.
Q. It is not likely that the farmer is in league with these butchers to make it difficult to get these cattle slaughtered. They could easily put it off for an hour or two ?
A.-No.
Q.-Why?
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