A shocking discovery was made at Hong-ong on the Japauete steamer Fushi Mari on the 26th ult. 'The steamer arrived on the 25th, having left Nagasaki on the 2ist instant,' For some days a" bad smell had been noticed in the engineers' mess-room, which gradually grew worse, and was attributed to dead rats, After a long search it was on Wednesday traced to a compart: ment above one of the water tanks alongside the engine room, On the manhole being opened a rush of foul air took place and some naked bodies were seen. The coal in the main hold was quickly removed to get at the sliding door tu the tank, and when this was opened a horrible sight was revealed, Eight dead bodies and four still alive were disclosed, all completely naked, their clothes having been discarded on account of the intolerable heat. The compartment is about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide and extends across the ship; itis used only for the purpose of getting at the tank for examination purposes. In this cramped place twelve persons, one a man and the others women, had been stowed for a week. Japanese wanton are not allowed to leave their own country without official permis sion, but the demand for them for immoral purposes is so great that frequent attempts are made tosmuggle them on board afoamers, That appears to have been the object in the present case, the party'of ten girls in charge of a man and an old woman being stowed away, in the hole described, where there was neither ventilation nor light, They had a supply of food and water with them, so that starvation was not added to their other sufferings, but that any of them should have survived a week's confinement in such a place is sitaply wonderful. The man was ona of those who succumbed, but the old woman survived. The bodies of the dead wore all ina more or less advanced stage of decomposition and the atmosphere was stifling. The survivors were in a shocking condition, their bodies being swollen and covered with prickly heat, They at once received such al tion as th n board were able to give, warm baths being provided for them and clothing supplied, The story told by the three girls is that they were induced to leave their homes by the man and woman by promises of obtain ing good situations in Hongkong, and on arrival at Nagasaki on the 19th instant they were put on board the steamer, They got into the compartment by the sliding door from the hold, before the cargo was fully loaded, -and until the door was closed they had no idea of the sufferings they were to undergo. Afterwards they found themselves literally buried alive without any power of escape or of attracting attention. It has been impossible to ascertain at what particular time the eight deceased persons severally succumbed, but the survivors state that the heat of the iron plates became so great that the living lay across the bodies of the dead in order to secure relief.
Some difficulty was experienced in obtaining an order for the burial of the deceased, owing to the uncertainty as to whether the deaths had occurred in British waters or on the high seas; in the Jatter case, the vessel being Japanese, the local authorities would have had no jarisdiction, It was finally decided, however, that an inquest should be held. Captain geuerdny afternoon and they were after-Rumsey accordingly viewed the bodies
wards buried. The inquest will be opened this morning at ten o'clock. The four survivors have been sent to the Tung Wah Hospital where they are detained under the orders of the Registrar-General.—Daily Press.
An enquiry was held into the occurrence at the Magistracy, Hongkong, on_ the 28th ult,, at which the four surviving women gave evidence. They had all been persuaded to stow themselves away on beard by the man who was one of the eight suffocated, on the plea that he would get them good situations in Hongkong. The enquiry closed without any immediate result.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.