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Q-At that time had you any suspicion of a typhoon?
A.-No suspicion till I got outside and struck a heavy southern swell at 6 p.m.
Q-Had you any suspicion of the strength of the typhoon ?
A.—No.
Q-Would you have proceeded on your way had you anticipated the weather you met
with?
A.-Yes; but I expected to reach Hongkong ahead of any typhoon which might set in.
Q-From that I may assume that there was no definite warning of a typhoon ?
A. Not till I got out and met the typhoon swell.
Q-Is it reasonable to expect the swell to be noticeable inside Hongkong harbour?
A.—Yes, I should say so.
Q-Have you a barograph on board?
A.-No; but I have a typhoon barometer.
Q.-Did your typhoon barometer show any likelihood of meeting this typhoon before 1 a.m?
A.-There was a gradual fall from 4 p.m. to midnight which in conjunction with South- East swell made me suspicious.
Q. In your opinion do you not consider one hour and a half would be an exceptionally short time for the barometer to reach its lowest reading after it once began to fall rapidly?
A. Yes.
Q. What was the fall of your barometer ?
A. From 29.65 at 2.20 a.m. to 29.15 at 3.50 a.m. Half an inch in one hour and a half. That is a very abnormally rapid fall.
Examined by Captain Sommerville:-
Q. Did you notice what the weather looked like on Monday afternoon in Swatow?
A-Fresh wind, nothing abnormal, sky quite clear, nothing suspicious.
Q.-Did you notice that the diurnal range of the barometer was not normal?
A.-I cannot say I did.
Q. Did you think when you were in Swatow that the abnormally high barometer indicated bad weather?
coast.
A.-No; I thought it was caused by the North-East monsoon setting in higher up the
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