25
5%
wide divergence where females are concerned cannot be due solely to the transfer of Tsuen Wan alone. This wide divergence can probably be ascribed to the large numbers of women busy in the fields during the 1921 Census period and thus being missed by the 1921 enumerators. The 1921 Census Officer, as noted above, remarked on the problems the peak agricultural season caused for the enumerators, who, clearly, were able to compel the presence of the heads of household, but not always the womenfolk of the family.
The higher numbers of females as compared with males recorded in both 1911 and 1921 (at ages above about 26 in 1911, and about 32 in 1921) can be ascribed to the temporary absence of many of the males in the City or abroad. As is to be expected, this feature is much less marked in 1921, because of the return of so many males for the Ching Ming Festival, and the greater effort made to record the boat-people, many of whom were prime-age males, whose families were resident outside the New Territories. The higher recorded figures for females at ages above 55 are more likely to be due to differential death-rates, with females living longer.
Southern District. An Immigrant, Urban Society
While the censuses show a settled agricultural society in Northern District, in Southern District they show a society dominated by the land and floating populations of the market town seaports of Cheung Chau, Tai O, and Ping Chau, and marked by significant temporary immigration of young adult males.
As mentioned above, the census figures are problematic for Southern District. Because of differences in the treatment of New Kowloon, Tsuen Wan, and the floating population, only two tables provide fully usable data: the 1911 figures for the islands' land population, and the 1921 figures for the Southern District floating population. However, even though the series of usable figures is short, nonetheless they clearly show a society radically distinct from that of Northern District.
00
Table 9 shows the reported population figures for the 1911 land population of the islands. As in Northern District, the figures suggest under-reporting of infant children. At 35 births per thousand, the