NEWSPAPERS
(Contd.)
the ship Greta, was published in the Government Gazette. Since the Nineties, however, the practice appears to have lapsed, probably owing to the publication of local Law Reports; but the findings of Marine Courts of inquiry still appear in the Gazette, despite their publication, almost invariably in full in the local press..
It was in the time of Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, who did a great deal to improve the administration of affairs concerning the Chinese population (such as introducing the Cadet system), that a Chinese edition of the Gazette, by his orders, made its appearance, the first issue being dated March 1, 1862. We learn that Sir Hercules "took great pains personally to test the fulness and correctness of the translators' work", and of that we might have something more to say in a following article on the subject.
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I desire to thank two readers who have kindly forwarded on loan copies of old drawings of Hong Kong, made in the Forties by Naval hydrographers. They are actually topographical maps, carefully drawn, with the whole outline of the hills on both sides of the harbour, and much of the town of Victoria as it then appeared, accurately depicted. Chinese craft in the harbour lend a touch of reality to the scene.
An additional guide is the printing, along the margins, of the names of selected places of interest such as the establishments of the bigger firms, the old military hospital (where Wellington Barracks are to-day), the cantonment barracks, and so forth.
Mr. J. Watson, of the B.W.D., kindly forwards one of these drawings which was reproduced in a book dealing with China: it is a panoramic view of Hong Kong, marked "as seen from the anchorage, drawn by Lieut. L. G. Heath of H.M.S. Iris, 1846." It shows the Albany, already erected, and used as Government Civil Offices (see previous articles, e.g. 22-8-33 and 25-8-33).
By a coincidence, almost at the same time I received on loan from Mr. R. Griggs, the identical drawing, but in this case forming one of three chart-like publications, printed on thick paper, and issued by the Hydrographic Office, in 1846 and 1847. One of them is marked "price three shillings" The two in addition to the one of Hong Kong show the entrances to the harbour, and the surrounding topography.'
They were evidently the work of experts, and are remarkably faithful outlines. The pointers to places of interest are useful but practically all these have already been identified in the course of my articles, and the very size of the original drawings precludes adequate reproduction. They go to show how much care was taken in the old days in obtaining accurate records of this Colony.
I find that in the course of yesterday's article giving an outline history of the Hong Kong Government Gazette, an error made by Norton-Kyshe in his reference to the subject was inadvertently repeated. In his old "History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong", Norton-Kyshe makes a peculiar mistake, when he states that prior to 1853, the Government notifications had appeared in the Daily Press. Actually they had appeared, by contract, exclusively in the China Mail, and this led to much controversy, which ended in 1853 on the appearance of the separately-published official Gazette. The Daily Press did not come into existence until 1857.
The contract for the publication of Government notifications in the China Mail ceased on September 21, 1853, and on
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