The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-24 00:00:00

traced the blood, near to which place, say about 200
yards, the body of Captain Da Costa was discovered in
the water. I did not see the body taken out of the water.
I have very frequently visited this village, but always
armed. The villagers have seen that I was armed. I
have always received civility. Captain Da Costa, when
he left his quarters, was dressed in a white shooting
jacket, a Chinese felt-cap, turning up all round, blue
striped cloth trousers, and common shoes. He had with
him a gold watch and small gold pocket chain slightly
exposed to view. I think he had two gold rings on his
fingers, one of considerable value. He wore the rings on
his left hand. Both hands are bruised; I cannot say that
one is more than the other. He had no firearms on him,
but bad a Malacca cane, loaded with lead, say about 11
ounces—from that to 2 ounces. It was a powerful wea-
pon. lam not aware that he had any money on his per-
son. Lieutenant Dwyer had a gold hunting watch with
a gold guard chain round his neck, both of considerable
value. The chain was slightly exposed to view. He
had no firearms about him. Had a Malacca cane; no
money. The three-pronged spear I found was a likely
instrument to have caused the wound in the eye of
Captain Da Costa, as before described.
"By Dr. Mitchell—Was the spot where you picked up
the spearhead, which you have stated to be about 200
yards from that village, in the sight of that village?
" Witness—No, it was shut out by a turn in the road
and the wood.
" Could the cries of men struggling for their lives be
heard at the village where you took the old man into
custody, from the spot where you picked up the spear-
head?
" I am of opinion they could not be heard. Am not
precise as to the distance being 200 yards, but think it
was sufficiently far to preclude human cries from reach-
ing the village; The spearhead I picked up had the
appearance of being recently broken. I cannot say with
any degree of certainty that any of the prongs had
blood on at the time. On Monday last Mr. May
took a man into custody at Wong-ma-kok.
He had a wound on, I think, the right side of his
head, over the parietal bone, which had apparently
been inflicted by a stick—such a stick as Captai❑
Da Costa carried would be a likely instrument to inflict
the wound. IC appeared to have been inflicted twelve
or fifteen hours. He had marks of blood on his left leg
and foot; also on the band of his trousers, which is pro-
duced. On my return home from the village of Wong-
ma- kok on Sunday night, I did not see any fire whatever,
save that which I myself caused along the pathway from
the village. This fire was entirely extinguished before I
left. I fired the grass to see my way more clearly, the
night being very dark. That fire which I afterwards
saw at a latter period on Monday was not a continuation
of the ignition caused by me. It appeared to have been
kindled in many places at one and the same time.
"By Mr. Strachan—When Captain Da Costa left his
quarters on Sunday he was in his usual good spirits.
He was not excited by wine. The same remark applies
to Mr. Dwyer.

"F. M. TWHDDELL,
"Assistant-Surgeon, H.M. Ceylon Rifles.
" Lo-yoang-shing, alias Lo-asse, being arraigned as a
prisoner, and cautioned that what he states may be used
as evidence against himself, states—l am a husbandman,
and have resided for many years in the village of Wong-
ma-kok, on the island of Hong-Kong. On the third day
of this moon (corresponding with our. Sunday, the 25th
February), two English officers came to the village of
Wong ma-kok about dusk. They went into my house.
I myself was there, my wife was cooking, and my
daughter-in-law was keeping the fire up. One of the
officers, the shorter one of the two, embraced my
daughter-in-law. I made motions with my hand for him
to desist. The girl cried out; my wife went up and
pulled the officer away. I also begged them to go away,
when the tall officer struck me with a walking-stick on
the head—a common stick (opponent shows a cut on the
right side of the head,* which was the result of the blow
inflicted). The villagers hearing the cries of my
daughter-in-law, came in, and tried to get the officers
away. As the villagers came into my house, they were
struck by the officers [the villagers ihearing his girl cry-
ing out, came and wished them to go away, saying it
was improper for them as officers to meddle with the
common people; but they struck them, and they began
to fight—Register's Report]. My head at this time
was bleeding; blood came into my eyes. I could not
well see. A villager residing next door to me, named
Chui-apo, with six of his men, came in, they armed
themselves with spears; a conflict ensued between
these men and the English officers, whom they
wounded. It became dark. I could not see the
finish of the encounter. The disturbance arose princi-
pally because Chui-apo and his men would not submit
to the treatment displayed towards my daughter-in-law.
[lt was only through Chui-apo and his men being vexed
at what they had done that the fight occurred. He is an
old menet and only wished them to go away.—Register's
Report.] I did not interfere. I did not run away, be-
cause I had done nothing wrong. The names of Chui-
apo's men are, &c. Chui-apo has lived in the village for
ten years. He goes away sometimes, and returns.
Ho-yeen-ping has been in the village about one month.
He had a license from the Government to make powder
there. Some of the others have been residents of the vil-
lage for two or three years. They did not till the ground.
They cut grass, and sometimes go out fishing. They are
not regularly employed by Chui-apo. Seven or eight
men took part in the scuffle with the English officers. It
first began in my house; five or six men first entered.
The English officers did not fall in my house, but they
were wounded there. I did not see any blood on the
ground in my house. The officers rushed out of the
house, but were pursued by the assailants. The name
of my daughter-in-law is Lo-chow-she; she is aged
eighteen years. She was taken from the village on Sun-
day night—at all events I have not seen her since. The
officers used to visit the village occasionally. [The officers
often came about shooting, but seldom came to the house.
—Register's Report.] Inever knew then/ to converse with
my daughter-in-law during any of these visits. The two 01-
' cers, on Sunday, before coming into my house, had en-
tered Chui-apo's, where they had interfered with women,
but they were driven out. In the house, during the
struggle, the tall English officer wrested a spear from
Chui etpo, knocked him down, and kicked him. In aim-
ing a blow at Chui-apo, the spear broke. Ido not know
whether Chui-apo was wounded. I could identify the
spear that was broken (deponent is shown several spears
and identifies the one found by the party of Dr. Twed-
dell, a three-pronged spear). It was after the spear was
broke that the officers rushed out. When I was wounded
my wife shouted out Help, help, save my life.' The
villagers then rushed in, but they did not come armed;
they pulled the officers out, and in attempting to do so they
were struck with sticks. [The villagers came and took
hold of the officers with their hands to pull them out of
the house. The officers resisted and heat them with
their sticks.—Register's report.] The villagers then
got spears. The officers did not make any attempt before
the conflict ensued and before the spear was broken to
escape. In the house of Chui-apo there were
two women ; one aged sixteen, a married
girl, daughter-in-law of Chui-apo ; the other
was an old woman, his wife. I never heard the result
of the conflict, nor do I know what has become of the
officers. The Stanley officers set fire to the grass. Late
on Sunday a party of officers and men came to the vil-
lage, and inquired what had become of the two officers.
I replied, 'that they had been interfering, and a disturb-
ance had taken place, but that I did not know where
they had gone to.' I suspected that the two English
officers had been killed, from the way they were fight-
ing, but I was afraid to say so to those who came in
search. lily eldest son was outside my house during the
conflict; hhea afterwards
eroemt umr nu endi
e, abt
iuotn did
nor n
To
et t say an
aoyy-
thing. I
of the villagers who took part in the conflict.
" Low-a-kow, after having been duly cautioned in a
similar manner to the last deponent, states:—l am a son
of the last deponent, and reside at the village of Wong-
ma-kok. On Sunday last, I remember two English offi-
cers coming to the village. At the time I was not in
my father's house, having out-door occupation. I saw
them going into several houses looking after women,
and into my father's house amongst the rest. On my
entering my father's house, I saw one of the officers
embracing my sister-in-law. My father and mother in-
terfered, and desired him to desist. He would net. My
father tried to pull him away, but could not. The villa-
gers then came in. They were not called. They came
of their own accord. They were then armed with spears
and knives. They fought with the officers in the house.
A spear was wrested from Chui-apo by the tall officer.
I did not see any wound inflicted by this officer. I saw
him aim a blow at one of the villagers. It (the spear)
fell on the ground and wad broken. The officers de-
fended themselves, and backed out of the house. They
did not attempt to go away before this [' and would not
go.'—Register's Report]. They were not wounded in
the house. When they backed out they were followed
by their assailants, and then wounded. They kept re-
ceding—and at last fell about 1,000 covids (a coved is
about inches) from the village, on the pathway lead-
ing to Stanley. The wounds they received were mortal.
I saw them dying. They were about 100 covids from
each other. I saw them slung on bamboos, and carried
down to the water-side near the fishing-nets, and thrown
into the water. They were at this time dead ; but when
they were slung on the bamboos, they were breathing.
When they fell some of their assailants went
back to the village for bamboos and ropes. It was
dark when they fell. There were ten of the assailants.
lotHhffieec
eomweurualsdrs. d
the ei
Ird.ednriitdcni fg*hnylnoeitaa.ldalseperoteh himin
the
etake
affray.their
tchesh
eo rings.r
officers
entered the village I saw they carried sticks. I saw
them strike Chui-apo with a stick on his back as he was
coming out of his house, having gone in to light his pipe.
I heard Chui-apo say to them in Chinese, You had
better mind what you are about, or I will kill you. I
have done nothing to you.' The officers were drunk.
They throw stones at everybody who stood to look at
them. When they entered my father's house I also went
in. I remained there until the villagers came in armed.
In the interval I saw both my father and mother struck;
blood was drawn from both of them. They were both
struck on the head. They did not call in the villagers
to their assistance; they came of their own accord. °All
the villagers were looking on during the conflict—more
than twenty. My mother is now in Stanley. My sister-
in-law has gone to Little Heongkong to her mother's.
The family name is Cheen—Cheen. ashing is the name of
my
whatak taken
hadto Stanleyhee
om become
ofy some
their
tw
offi-
cers.
o
comrades, because I was not properly questioned. The
sistlerdiid n-w.
n two deceased officers were thrown into the water
loat ielll themwas t
at one and the same time, at the same place. During
the conflict I particularly noticed Chui-apo and Chui
amon. I saw them stab the two officers with spears. I
can't say where in the body they were stabbed. I cannot
say in
hours elapsed from the time they fell up to the time they
which hand the spears were held. Perhaps two
were thrown into the water. The people who carried
them down were the same as committed the murder.
They were thrown into the water to avoid detection. I
did not see any of the party burning the grass. Chui •

Lieut. Dwyer, the taller Qf the pfliGers, Nas left-Lauded.