160
>
system adopted this time proved very successful, and while relieving the European Police of a very laborious task, interested a number of the better educated inhabitants directly in the Census. In future by increasing the number of enumerators it will be possible to . curtail considerably the time required, but the use of schedules will remain impossible, partly owing to the general lack of education, and partly owing to the distribution of the population which is scattered through 600 villages and hamlets, few of which contain 500 inhabitants.
Outlying islands and inaccessible fishing villages and huts were enumerated by the crews of the Police, patrol launches.
The work of the enumerators were somewhat hindered by the absence of most of the able-bodied population all day long in the fields, every one being busy with the prepara- tions for planting the first spring crops. This difficulty was partly surmounted by send- ing Chinese constables a day in advance of the enumerators, and warning the heads of the household to be at home to meet the enumerator.
The work appears to have been done very thoroughly, for which great credit is due to Divisional: Inspector Boulger and his Chinese interpreter Mr. Kwok, who were indefati- gable in the preliminary preparations and subsequent general supervision. The Police Officers in charge of the Districts also took a keen interest in the success of the undertaking.
2. Alteration of Boundaries.-Since 1911 the District of Tsun Wan has been trans- ferred from the Northern to the Southern District: while Shamshuipo and Kowloon City, which for some purposes are still included in the Southern District, have for Census pur- poses been included under Kowloon Peninsula in recognition of the fact that they are ra- pidly becoming urban districts, and that municipal services have been extended to them.
-
3. Northern District.--The population of the Northern District - shows a slight decrease, which would have been greater had not the Tsing Ming festival brought back many males to their native villages. The opening of the Railway seems, contrary to expectations, to have produced little change; market supplies for Hongkong still come from the Canton Delta as before, and paddy still remains the predominant crop. Very few houses for European accommodation have been erected, and those few, mostly erected shortly after the opening of the Railway, have not proved popular, and have had many changes of tenants. The truth is that land worth cultivating is very limited, and that there are no suitable building sites available which are accessible to Hongkong and which might induce Europeans and Chinese of the richer classes to create country homes in the New Territories to the north of the Kowloon Hills, as was anticipated at the opening of the Railway,
A European Reservation has been created on Cheungchow Island as a summer resort for missionaries and others from the interior. The summer visitors had not arrived at the date of the Census.
4. Sexes.-The number of females in the Northern District exceeds that of males by 256, the excess in 1911 being 2,345. The difference is probably a good criterion of the number of males who returned for the Tsing Ming festival.
-
In the Southern District on the other hand males exceed the females by 2,271, against 3,427 in 1911, Tsing Ming here also probably accounts for the reduced number of males, the population of the Southern District containing a large number who were born elsewhere and would naturally, return home at this season.
5. Families.-The number of children in a family is small; this is due partly to early marriage, the daughters leaving home young, partly to the young boys leaving to seek employment and partly to the emigration of young girls as 'muitsai' or 'sanpotsai'. It must also be remembered that a certain number of males who have emigrated only marry when they return late in life. Extremely few large families were noticed.
•
6. Ages. The age tables have been adjusted to the European method of reckoning; this was not done in the report for 1911 when the total number of children under 1 for the whole of the New Territories was recorded as 111. For the first 4 years the number of males and females is fairly equal, but thereafter the males greatly exceed the females. This difference cannot be accounted for by immigration, since the number of child immigrants of either sex is about level, but reference to the table of ages of 'muitsaï' in