988
HOIHOW
motor road girding the island is projected and if there is peace locally in the next three years this plan will in all likelihood be realised. There is one Motor Boat Company running small boats from Hoihow into the interior.
As regards health, there is less fever in Hoihow than anywhere else in Hainan. There is excellent water to be had by the sinking of artesian wells, and several are already in existence both in the foreign Quarters and in the Chinese City. The majority of the Chinese, however, prefer to follow the old method of sending a woman with a couple of buckets to fetch pure drinking water, at a long distance, from a well, the contents of which are kept pure by the innumerable little fish that dart hither and thither across its stoneflagged bottom. The water in the actual wells at Hoihow is brackish, partly from seawater that filters into the wells and partly from the alkiline condition of the soil.
The trade of Hoihow remains more or less stationary. The native commercial com- munity of Hoihow is one that is always being drawn in different directions by op- posing interests. There is a Chamber of Commerce, which works in conjunction with the Five Guilds, representing the merchants of Canton, Swatow, Kochow, Fuh- kien and Hainan.
No foreign settlement has been formed at Hoihow for the very excellent reason that there is no space for such a settlement, unless the foreigners concerned were to see their way to disburse large sums of money in reclaiming the swamp on the verge of which the town of Hoihow stands. From Hoihow itself a tongue of dry land, known as the Tê Shêng Sha, or Victory Spit, runs westward for a distance of about a mile until it loses itself in the morass which there encompasses it on three sides. This strip of dry land is very narrow and has been entirely taken up. The consequence is that any future development, if any, must be out into the marshy ground that borders the Victory Spit.
With the exception of the Roman Catholic Orphanage, erected in 1895, the American Presbyterian Mission Hospital and doctor's residence, the Customs Indoor Staff quarters, the French School for Chinese, the French doctor's residence, and the French Hospital, the houses occupied by the foreign residents are Chinese converted into European habitations by alterations and improvements. H.B.M. Consulate obtained a site after 14 years' negotiations, and a Consulate building
building was erected in 1899 to the south-west of the Hospital; towards the end of 1897 a piece of land was granted, and a French Consulate has been built on the Northern side of the river and facing Hoihow town. Since the beginning of 1899 a free school has been conducted by the French Government for teaching the French language to the Chinese, and an officer from the Tonkin Medical Staff was detailed to this port for the purpose of giving the natives and others free attendance and medicine. The foreign residents in Hainan number about 60 including children. The net value of the trade of the port in 1928 was Hk. Tls. 9,378,368, as compared with Hk. Tls. 11,405,110 in 1927, Hk. Tls. 8,304,761 in 1926, Hk. Tls. 10,023,183 in 1925, and Hk. Tls. 8,721,200 in 1924. A large export trade in pigs, poultry, eggs, bullocks and provisions is carried on with Hongkong. There has been some talk among the natives of opening mines, constructing railways, and bringing out timber from the virgin forests of the interior. It has been noticed that some people are beginning to explore the island, and the Commissioner of Customs is of opinion that the searchlight of modern civilisation will reveal much that is of value to science as well as to commerce. "Perhaps," he added, "when this is accomplished it will be seen that this 'Island of Palms' is not the least rich nor the least fertile of China's possessions." The island of Hainan is described as a terra incognita to the world.
There is no telegraphic communication with the mainland at present. Telegrams are received at mainland offices for this island, but are sent by post and usually take from two to four weeks before they are received mutilated. The military wireless station, however, has been opened to the public, with limited places and certain restrictions. A harbour light, and a light at Lamko (western entrance of the Hainan Straits) were opened in 1894; also one at Cape Cami in 1895. An Aga Lantern apparatus was installed on the West Fort close to the city at the commencement of 1916. The approach to the harbour badly needs dredging, but is not likely to be dredged until the native merchants of Hoihow develop a little public spirit, and conditions in China improve generally.