No. 68.

To the same:

Sir: In continuation of my previous letters concerning the German steamer Hesperia, I have the honor to forward as inclosures copies of the master’s protest against the detention and of the report of the inspection of the steamer ordered by me.

In view of these documents I must maintain the request made in my letter of yesterday, that the ship be liberated, and also hold the Imperial Japanese Government responsible to the full extent for all the losses arising from the detention of the ship.

I must emphatically repeat what I have said before, namely, that it is impossible for me to subject German vessels to quarantine regulations, which are manifestly insufficient, and the maintenance of which apparently by no means realizes the object in view.

I have especially the honor to call Your Excellency’s attention to the appearance of policemen On board. I must expressly guard against the legality of such visits on board a German vessel, quite apart from the circumstance that these policemen at the same time circulated freely on other, perhaps infected, vessels.

I ask your excellency to accept, &c.,

VON EISENDECHER.

This day the German steamer “Hesperia,” an iron ship, with accommodations for eight cabin passengers (two to each cabin), and launched in 1875, 1,136 tons register, and on which, according to the captain’s statement, cholera has never appeared yet, has been inspected by the undersigned, after having been detained by the Japanese quarantine authorities in the quarantine ground near Nagaura for the space of about twenty-four hours.

The ship, which in her state-rooms, cabins, crew’s quarters, between-decks, and lower ship’s hold is kept perfectly clean, well aired and dry, and whose bilge-water is small in quantity, and, except a certain greasy smell, quite without smell about it, has taken her last provisions in Hong-Kong from the steamer “Eleetra” from Hamburg, her cargo—piece goods—in Hiogo, and her ballast, consisting of stones and sand which are perfectly dry, partly in Hong-Kong and partly in Hiogo.

The drinking water of the ship comes from the usual place of supply in Hiogo, Messrs. Domoney & Co.; the same, which is being kept in an iron tank, is clear, colorless, and has no smell, and has, further, a refreshing taste.

The closets, &c., are in a perfectly clean state.

There are on board one captain, 7 officers, among whom 3 engineers and one assistant; [Page 678] 6 sailors, 10 stokers, 1 ship’s boy, 8 cabin passengers, among whom two women, further, three children.

The ship’s crew has been hired in Hamburg on the 7th December, 1878, only one sailor having been hired in addition on the 8th January, 1879, in Port Said.

The passengers, with the exception of one who took his passage in Hong-Kong, have come on board, inclusive of the three children, in Hiogo.

Their effects are kept partly in the cabins and partly in the between-decks.

Nothing is known here of the prevalence of cholera in the ports where the vessel called, except that according to the statement of the Japanese authorities Asiatic cholera is said to prevail in Hiogo and its neighborhood.

The ship arrived in Hiogo on the 13th June, and left that port on the 10th July, between 1 and 2 o’clock in the morning.

The ship’s crew, with the exception of four officers, who last were on shore on the 15th June, and the captain, have not been on shore at all.

Japanese or residents of Hiogo have only been on board for loading purposes, at an average of 25 daily.

Nothing is known of illness having existed among the people.

In the shape of provisions, fresh meat, fowls, and vegetables were taken on board at Hiogo, furnished by Domoney & Co.

During her voyage to this port, the ship has had comparatively pleasant, cool, and dry weather.

The general state of health on board has, during the whole voyage, been most excellent. There have especially been no cases of diarrhoea.

In Kobe the captain had no occasion to call in medical attendance.

The foregoing facts rest on depositions made by the captain, the crew, and the passengers, whose attention has been drawn to the importance of their statements, on the inspection of the persons on board, made with the aid of the ship’s certificate and the captain’s statements, and on the minutest inspection of the whole ship.

The captain has declared his readiness to take, on oath, all the statements made by him.

The captain has lodged a complaint at the consulate in Yokohama about the most rude behavior on the part of the police officers sent on board, and about their communication with Japanese ships in the quarantine grounds and the shore, by which he is exposed to the danger of cholera being carried on board, and has verbally repeated his complaint.

If on one hand the total absence of cholera or diarrhea on board cannot be taken as an absolute proof that cholera may not yet make its appearance, on the other hand the certainty of cholera not appearing will not be enhanced by a further detention of the vessel during four days, according to the belief of the undersigned medical officer.

He is further of opinion that, judging from the present state of the ship, there is neither an imminent danger nor the likelihood of danger that cholera may be carried to Yokohama if the ship in question should go there at once.

The undersigned—the Consul and the medical officer—have not been able, after inspection of the quarantine arrangements, and after the information they were able to receive on the spot, concerning the manner in which the quarantine regulations are beng carried out, to arrive at the conviction that either the arrangements made, or the measures taken, have the least likelihood of attaining the desired object.

  • DR. GUTSCHOW,
    Surgeon in Chief of the German Naval Hospital,
    at Yokohama, and Oberstabsarzt.
  • Zappe,
    Imperial German Consul.