486
GENERAL.
23. The Harbour Office is now nearly completely shut in from a view of the Harbour; the pre- paration of the new site goes on slowly.
The problem of providing berthing accommodation in the Harbour for the ever-increasing tonnage frequenting the Port is one that is getting more difficult each year, and though there may not be any very pressing necessity just at present, there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt that, with the constant advance in size, draught, and number, as well of Ships-of-War as of the Mercantile Marine, and of Foreign as well as British Shipping, the water space which, up to the present time has sufficed, will, before many years, be found quite inadequate.
The first note of warning has been sounded. Owing to the increase in size and number of His Majesty's Ships on the China Station, as well as of the Ships-of-War of Foreign nations, and to the reclamation to the shore of deep water by the extension of the Naval Yard, the Man-of-War anchorage, which formerly accommodated all Ships-of-War, British as well as Foreign, has recently been found at times insufficient for even our own ships, and the excess has had to be accommodated elsewhere, and thus while Foreign Ships-of-War are still, as formerly, berthed when practicable in the special anchor- age, this is frequently found impracticable, and their berths are assigned to them by the Harbour Master, a course also sometimes rendered necessary in the case of British Ships-of-War.
The necessity for providing special anchorages for the accommodation of Ships-of-War, coal ships and ships with gunpowder or dangerous goods, as well as for keeping three fairways clear for the passage of ships through the Harbour, curtails very much the available deep water space, and, in order to provide further berthing room without extending the anchorage to an inconvenient distance East and West, the question of deepening the comparatively shallow area lying between Yaumati and Stone Cutters' Island, and of removing the shoal patches off Quarry Bay and in some other parts of the Har- bour, will have to be seriously considered, and probably a system of more or less constant dredging provided for.
The water area within the Harbour Limits comprises approximately 7 square miles, of this about one-half is of a less depth than 44 fathoms at Low Water; Fairways and special anchorages take up another square miles, leaving only 24 square miles of deep water available for the very large and constantly increasing amount of shipping trading to the Port, and although a depth of 44 fathoms may seem an excessive requirement to-day, there is a universal tendency towards larger and deeper draughted ships, and it is probable that, at no very distant date, a considerable percentage of the ship- ping of the Port will not be able to do with a lesser depth. Nearly 2 square miles more of deep water could be added to our present space by increasing by one fathom the depth over the area be- tween Yaumati and Stone Cutters' Island.
In the meanwhile the subject of improving the navigation conditions has received consideration.
The principal obstructions to navigation at the Eastern end of the Harbour are, the Penguin Shoal off Quarry Bay, and a shoal in mid-channel South of Cust Rock. As neither of these carry a less depth than 27 feet at Low Water Springs, they are not at present a danger to the ships of the Mer- cantile Marine, though it is quite possible they may become so before long owing to the tendency towards larger and deeper draughted ships.
But it has been pointed out that they are even now an obstruction to some of His Majesty's Ships which make Hongkong their headquarters.
A proposal of the Vice-Adiniral and Commander-in-Chief to remove them by dredging was considered, and an estimate of the cost obtained, but this proved to be so large that it hard to be aban- doned and some alternative found.
A beacon has been built on a 12-foot patch inside and to the Northward of the Lyeemun Pass, from which from the 1st January this year a red light has been displayed at night, a similar light is also shewn on the North side of the l'ass itself.
It is now proposed that a light shall be placed on Blackhead's Hill and another (automatic) on Cust Rock.
This can be carried out at a comparatively small cost, as the already approved scheme of shifting Cape D'Aguilar light to Green Island and Green Island Light to Cape Collinson will make the Cape Collinson's apparatus available for Blackhead's Hill, and a considerable improvement can thus be effected which will carry us on until the time arrives when the larger scheme of general improvement already referred to above can be carried out.
24. While on the subject of Harbour improvement, I desire to place on record, and to invite possible criticism of, a proposal which has already been before the Government in a special form, and I therefore reproduce it in this my Annual Report.