HISTORY
277
contempt of his own countrymen, Elliot accepted it. On 20th January, 1841 the preliminaries of a Sino-British Treaty were announced, and, without more ado, on the 26th, the island was formally occupied without any resistance on the part of the few Chinese inhabitants, who were in any case by now familiar with British ships anchoring in their waters.
THE ISLAND COLONY, 1841-60
The acquisition by the Crown of a barren island rock was ridiculed, not only by British merchants in China, but also in London. Elliot was dismissed for his ineptitude in dealing with the Chinese, and was replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger, who reached the coast in August 1841.
In the face of public hostility, particularly in Canton, to Kishen's proposal to cede Hong Kong to the British, the Emperor declined further negotiation, and war was resumed. But Pottinger had not been on the China coast for more than a few months before he realized that, whatever the London view might be, Elliot's decision to accept the cession of Hong Kong was a wise one. And when, in August 1842, British troops were on the point of assaulting Nanking, and the Emperor at last sued for peace, Pottinger made it an article of the Treaty, that was promptly concluded, that Hong Kong should be ceded to the British Crown 'to be governed by such laws as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain etc. may see fit to direct'. In June 1843 the new Colony was officially named Hong Kong, and the name 'Victoria' was conferred upon the settlement growing up on the northern side of the island.
Like Singapore before it, Hong Kong from the start was declared a free port; and its subsequent growth and great- ness as a commercial city have been due to this fundamental policy, which welcomes anyone who comes in peace, obeys the laws, and pays a few very moderate taxes.
The history of Hong Kong is in some ways no more than a chronicle of rising and falling trends of trade and popula-