In these days when duelling is rare even on the Continent of Europe, something of glamour attaches to the thought of this one-time--fashionable method of settling a dispute. It is interesting to find on record the account of a duel which was fought in Hongkong, nearly 63 years ago. As might be expected the parties concerned were not British, one being a Spaniard and the other a South American. The weapons they chose were pistols. The cause was not the romantic one of a fair lady, but the more prosaic matter of card debts. What made the affair so notable an event was that the duellists were men of some standing, being the Consular representatives for their respective countries. They selected the seashore at Kowloon City - then a more sparsely populated place, under Chinese jurisdiction - as the scene of the encounter; which fortunately did not terminate fatally, though one combatant was wounded. Presumably honour was thereby satisfied, For a fairly full account of the affair, the facts of which were probably difficult to obtain , we have to search the newspaper files of the period and an extract from one of these is given below:
A report dated July 30 1872 states: Considerable excitement was caused yesterday by its getting about that a duel had been, fought between Mr. Leon Checa Consul for Spain at Hongkong, and Mr. Torre Bueno Peruvian Consul at Macao, who it will be recollected was recently tried before the Court at that place. The origin of the dispute seems to have been some insulting expressions which were used in reference to certain card debts and which M. Torre Bueno considered wounding to his dignity as a gentleman,
The combatants met on Chinese Kowloon, and the ground being measure, exchanged shots from duelling pistols at 25 paces each approaching the other. M. Checa having advanced fifteen paces, M. Toree Bueno still remaining at his place, fired at him and missed, the ball, however, passing close his Face. M. Checa then went up to him and discharged his pistol at his right shoulder, wounding him 'somewhat severely. M. Checa then left the ground and Mr. Toree Bueno, though wounded was able to walk back to the boat and was removed on board the Spanish man-of-war, Patino. It appears that the wound is not dangerous. The ball has been since extracted, and M. Torre Bueno, is said to be progressing favourably. The affair has naturally been the subject of a great deal of comment, and the general feeling is very strongly Against the whole proceeding, which it is to be hoped will not be allowed to form a precedent for the settlement of disputes in Hongkong.
Perhaps as a result of that publicity, the matter did go before the Court according to another chronicle of the times, warrants for the arrest of every person, present at the affair were issued but bail was allowed: the two duellists were tried at the Supreme Court on August 25, 1872, and having pleaded guilty, were each fined $200. This must certainly have discouraged any further affairs of the kind. Strangely enough, I cannot find any mention of the trial of these duellists in Norton-Kyshe's comprehensive History of the Laws and Courts of Hongkong, which otherwise gives a full index of the more interesting cases tried