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Some good-sized steamers have been launched in the Colony. His Majesty's Naval Yard likewise contains machine sheds and fitting shops on a large scale, and repairs can be effected to the machinery of the British men-of-war with great expedition. A large extension of the Naval Yard is in progress, including an important re- clamation on the foreshore, the construction of a dock and erection of various works. These are now nearing completion. So also is Messrs. Butterfield & Swire's new dock at Quarry Bay.
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 Gapalong the adjoining hills. A tramway, on the wire rope system, runs to the Victoria Gap, where the stationary engine is fixed, the lower terminus being close to St. John's Cathedral. It was opened to traffic on the 30th May, 1888. Passengers can alight at the Kennedy, Bowen, and Plantation Ronds, where stations 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 sanatorium on the heights near Magazine Gap in 1883, and in 1897 acquired the handsome and commodious Mount Austin Hotel for the same purpose. The Peak Club, which had been lodged in temporary quarters for several years, has now been domiciled in a neat building just below Craigieburn Hotel. It was erected in 1902. The Peak Church, an unpretending structure after the similitude of a jelly mould, was opened for worship in June, 1883. Comfortable accommodation for visitors is afforded at the Peak and Craigieburn Hotels. A finely-situated private Hospital has been erected at Victoria Gap, just above the Peak Hotel. The Victoria (Jubilee) Hospital for Women and Children, occupying a breezy site on Barker Road, was opened by Sir Henry Blake on November 7th, 1903. Yet another hospital, named "The Matilda Hospital" has been erected at the southern corner of Mount Kellett, at a cost of about $350,000. The expense of erection and maintenance are borne by the estate of the late Mr. Granville Sharp, who devoted the bulk of his fortune to provide such an institution for the benefit of persons needing it who are of European or American birth. A small public garden, situated at the junction of Chamberlain and Mount Kellett Roads was opened in 1906.
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 which the approach of the mails and other vessels is signalled. Not far from the summit of the Peak, on a most command- ing site, stands Mountain Lodge, the summer residence of H.E. the Governor, which was erected in 1901. 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. Another road leads from Victoria Gap to Pokfulum and Aber- deen, and at the side of this, about half a mile from the Gap, a small granite cross has been erected. This bears the inscription :—“W. W. H. 1869" and marks the scene of a brutal murder there by a Chinese footpad, the victim being Mr. Holworthy, an officer of the Ordnance Department, whom he felled with a bamboo and robbed, inflicting fatal injuries. The Peak roads are now lighted by gas.
THE RURAL DISTRICTS
There are several villages on the island, the largest of which is Shau-ki Wan, situate in a bay in the Ly-ee-mùn 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 harbour, 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 were 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 at Pokfolum, and is a fine building with an elegant chapel attached. The Dairy Farm is also situated there. Wong-nai Chung is snugly located at the head of the valley of that name and is the most accessible of all the villages from Victoria. Stanley, situated in a small bay on the south-east of the island, was once the site of a military station, but the barrack buildings have been pulled down, and the village is now stationary. A cemetery on the point contains numerous graves of British officers and
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