328 EAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. [Oh. XIX. 



Hong Kong court is the whipping-post — a means but little 

 employed, but which has greater effect with the Chinese 

 than fear of death itself; and were it employed more fre- 

 quently — were it more inevitable than it is, crimes such as 

 those I have described would be greatly diminished. But 

 ihe Colonial government, however inclined to protect 

 themselves in this respect, must bow to public opinion in 

 England — the opinion of people who must judge upon 

 abstract principles without any reference to the necessities 

 of the case. 



Another reason which has a powerful influence in regard 

 to the statistics of crime in the colony, is due to the fact of 

 the proximity of Canton, and the frequent and free commu- 

 nication which takes place between the two places. A 

 steamer of the American type runs daily between Hong 

 Kong and Canton, which, while it charges six dollars for 

 European passengers, takes any Chinaman for one dollar; 

 while the whole lower deck is devoted to the lower class of 

 Chinese, who pay a quarter of a dollar (or Is.) only for 

 their passage. Of this class the steamer daily takes a 

 crowd, who go freely to and fro with no police supervision, 

 and thus every day a mob of rowdies comes down from 

 Canton, where there is little exercise for their abilities, to 

 practise upon their natural prey — the Western barbarians in 

 Hong Kong ; and having committed a robbery or a murder 

 may return in the morning, and become lost in the world of 

 Canton — out of the reach, and beyond the authority of the 

 English police. It is true that if such a murder or robbery 

 is discovered before the steamer leaves at eight in the 

 morning, the police examine the departing passengers ; but 

 if the offender can pass muster, or can defer his departure, 

 he still can get away ; and once gone, is infinitely safer than 



