14
REVIEW
duties should properly be collected at the Chinese port of entry. One of the results of this dispute was the increased use of steam- ships by local Chinese merchants, one of whom is reported to have purchased 13. The blockade ended in 1886 when an agreement was made with the Chinese under which no opium was to be landed in Hong Kong, moved, transhipped, stored or exported without the harbour master's permission.
As the number of ships entering Hong Kong continued to in- crease Lieutenant Thomsett took the view that lighthouses should be established at both the eastern and western approaches to the harbour. In 1867 he arranged for Commander Reed, a naval sur- veyor attached to HMS Rifleman, to submit recommendations on the best sites and the number of lighthouses needed. The sites recommended by Commander Reed were at Waglan, Green -Island and Gap Rock. Two of these sites-Waglan and Gap Rock--were in Chinese territory and the Chinese Government refused to approve them. Finally Cape D'Aguilar, Green Island and Cape Collinson were selected and the first lighthouse in the Colony was put into operation on 16th April 1875, at Cape D'Aguilar. It was closely followed by the Green Island light, but as the Crown Agents mistakenly sent the equipment for Cape Collinson to the Cape of Good Hope the third light did not begin to operate for two years. To defray the capital cost of £1,045 14s 2d, and to meet the expense of maintaining the lighthouses, light dues were levied for the first time in 1875. The lighthouse at Gap Rock was not completed until 1892, although agreement in principle on this project had been reached with the Chinese authorities in 1886. A year later the centre of a severe typhoon passed over the rock causing extensive damage to the lighthouse and extinguishing the light for several days. With the building of the lighthouses at Cape D'Aguilar and Gap Rock, and the laying of cables to Victoria, signal stations were established and reports given of all passing ships.
The lighthouse at Waglan Island was built by the Chinese Maritime Customs in 1893 and the Hong Kong Harbour Depart- ment took it over on 1st January 1901, following the leasing of