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timed to have been a coincidence, too deeply significant to have been other than a planned maneuver. I realized then, that for all practical purposed we were now a prize of war. I instructed the radio operator to keep tuned to the Hong Kong radio station in case we got orders to return to port. I was determined to make the attempt to return if such orders came through despite the fact that the Japanese naval vessel was following in our wake like a hyena ready to pounce. No orders came, and at 11 a.m. we entered the Boca Tigris Channel and embarked a Japanese military pilot to take us to Canton. Chinese pilots were not permitted to operate in their own waters and pilotage was compulsory. The pilots were all Japanese under the control of their own Army Officials. The Boca Tigris Anchorage was crowded with Japanese transports embarking troops for service in Malaya. The attacking forces for the Philippines and Malaya were already on the high seas waiting the "D" day flash. The troops I saw embarking were reinforcements for new and farther fields of operations. Our Japanese pilot was one of the best on the roster. He was always courteous, always neatly dressed - a true gentleman. Our passage up the river to Quarantine was without incident. At Quarantine, strangely, for the first time in my experience, the Japanese army and medical officials had no complaints or insults to offer. They quickly completed their inspection and left the vessel. Strange conduct! On each previous trip up to Canton, the Japanese did everything in their power, short of physical force, to discourage our calling at this port. We averaged a thousand Chinese passengers each trip. Each passenger had to have a cholera certificate with a photograph on it and was only valid four months. He also had to have a smallpox certificate which was only valid four months and only acceptable if issued by a government bureau. He needed a good citizen certificate and an identity pass besides the usual customs' forms. With a largely illiterate crowd of Chinese passengers it was difficult to prevent passengers boarding at Hong Kong whose certificates were not all in order and up to date with current (daily) Japanese regulations.
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