HONGKONG
INDUSTRIES.
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201
Manufactures are yearly increasing in importance. There are three large sugar refineries: the China Sugar Refining Co's establishments at East Point and at Bowring- ton, and the Taikoo Sugar Refinery at Quarry Bay. In connection with the first-named Company there is also a large Distillery, where a considerable quantity of rum is man- ufactured. There is an Ice Factory at Bowrington, a large Rope Factory in Belcher's Bay, Steam Saw Mills at Bowrington, a Steam Furniture Factory at Wanchai, and two or three Engineering Works. The works of the Hongkong Brick and Cement Company are situated in Deep Bay, on the south side of the island. A Paper Mill on a considerable scale, to be worked by English machinery, is being erected at Aberdeen, and some industrial works are projected, to be built at Shau-ki Wan. The works of the Hongkong and China Gas Company are situated at West Point, and those of the Hongkong Electric Company at Wanchai. The city is illuminated partly by gas and partly by the electric light, the latter being introduced at the end of 1890. Among the industries pursued by the Chinese are glass blowing, opium boiling, vermillion and soy manufacture, tanning, dyeing; beancurd, toothpowder, match, cigar making, boat building, &c., &c.
There is excellent Dock accommodation. The Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, have three extensive establishments, two at Kowloon, the other at Aberdeen on the South side of the Island. The Docks of this company are fitted with all the best appliances for engineering and carpenter's work, and in the Admiralty Dock the largest ironclad can be received. The docks are of the following dimensions:- Kowloon:-Admiralty Dock-500 feet in length, 86 feet in breadth at entrance at top and 70 feet at bottom, and 29 feet deep. No. 1 dock-Length over all, 340 feet; breadth at entrance, 74 feet; depth over sill at ordinary spring tides, 18 feet. No. 2 dock-Length over all, 245 feet; breadth at entrance, 19 feet; depth, 13 feet. Patent Slip-Length over all, 250 feet; breadth, 60 feet; depth, 11 feet. Tai Kok Tsui: Cosmopolitan dock-Length over all, 465 feet: breadth at entrance, 85 feet; depth, 20 feet. Aberdeen: Hope dock- Length over all, 433 feet; breadth at entrance, 84 feet; depth 24 feet. Lamont dock- Length over all, 340 feet; breadth, 64 feet; depth, 16 feet. There are other establishments at which shipbuilding and foundry work are carried on, and some good sized steamers have been launched in the Colony. Her Majesty's Naval Yard likewise contains machine sheds and fitting shops on a large scale, and repairs can be effected to que machinery of the British men-of-war with great expedition.
THE PEAK DISTRICT.
A well made but rather badly graded mountain road leads up to the summit of Victoria Peak, with numerous other paths branching off from it at Victoria Gap along the adjoining hills. A tramway, on the wire rope system, has been laid to the Victoria Gap, where the stationary engine is fixed, the lower terminus being close to S. John's Cathedral, and was opened to traffic on the 30th May, 1888. Passengers can alight at the Bowen and Plantation Roads, where platforms are provided for their accommo- dation. Within the past few years the number of bungalows and houses on and about the Peak has increased so much that they now form quite a considerable alpine village. The Military erected a sanitarium on the heights in 1883; and in June of the same year the Peak Church was opened for worship there. Comfortable accommodation for visitors is now afforded by the Peak Hotel. The road from Victoria Gap westward leads to Victoria Peak, which is 1,823 feet above the sea and rises almost abruptly behind the centre of the city of Victoria. On the summit is placed the flagstaff from whence is signalled the approach of the mails and other vessels. Mountain Lodge, the summer residence of the Governor, is built in a little hollow beneath the Peak summit, facing south. An excellent and well graded road, commencing on the Bowen road, leads to Magazine Gap, near which a second hill village of foreign residences has been formed on the southern side of the hills at an elevation of about 900 feet above the sea.
THE RURAL DISTRICTS.
There are several villages on the island, the largest of which is Shau-ki Wan, situate in a bay in the Li-ü Mun Pass, a great resort of Chinese fishing craft. Aberdeen, known to the Chinese as Shek-pai-wan, on the south of the island, possesses a well sheltered little barbour, also much frequented by fishing craft. Two large docks of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company are situated there, and add to the importance of the place. Pokfolum, on the road to Aberdeen, about four miles from Victoria, was formerly a place of resort for European residents in the hot weather, and some elegant bungalows have been erected in pleasant and picturesque situations, commanding fine sea views and cool breezes, but since the development of the Peak district, Pokfolum has been comparatively neglected. The sanitarium of the French Missions is located