Cuap. III.] COMPLAINT REGARDING NAMOA. 35 
made to Sir Henry Pottinger, then governor of 
Hong-kong, by the Chinese authorities regarding 
this state of affairs at Namoa. It set forth that 
the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty had built 
houses, made roads, and in fact were making 
another Hong-kong at the island of Namoa, which, 
according to the treaty, they had no right to do. 
The old Chinese admiral, who had shut his eyes to 
all these irregular proceedings, had been removed, 
and another, remarkable for his prowess and 
bravery in the suppression of piracy on that coast! 
had been appointed to this station, and it was the 
latter with whom the complaint originated. Sir 
Henry Pottinger acknowledged the irregularity of 
the proceeding, but blamed the Chinese authorities 
for allowing it for such a length of time, and 
claimed a period of six months to give time for 
the sale or removal of any articles the English 
might have on shore. This was agreed to on the 
part of the Chinese. 
And now comes the part of the business, which 
so nicely illustrates the peculiar character of the 
Chinese. When I visited Namoa, in October, 1845, 
I made enquiry regarding the state of affairs on 
shore, and found that a little civility and a few 
bottles of cherry brandy had wonderfully softened 
the good old admiral, and that a communication 
had been received stating that some little show 
of compliance was actually necessary: they must 
pull down the house, for example, but the stables 
and horses might remain as before, and the captains 
D 
