10
attributed to the gradual completion of these
10 06
number of
out
of
works having thrown employment, who have in consequence left Hongkong to seek a livelihood elsewhere. That this explanation is the true one is proved by the fact of the number of Chinese traders and shopkeepers being, if anything, rather more
in 18
than
in 1847, and the shops built for their reception being as fully occupied. The stonemasons and
the
other common labourers composing
the
migratory population of the Colony have no fixed residences, but construct mat huts in which they pass the nights, and cook their food.
works upon which they
8.
are
employed.
—
to the
Notwithstanding the great mortality amongst the Troops last year, and particularly
in!
the 95th
Regiment, to which it was
mainly
confined, I consider that Hongkong is as healthy as other Colonies and settlements
situated, within the same degree of latitude,
and the fact of the comparatively small
283
number of deaths in the Civil, Mercantile and
other classes who refrain from exposure to the
Sun,
leads
me to view
this climate
as congenial to the European constitution, where
precautions
are
observed.
The fixed white or European population
of the Colony, (including Americans and
Portuguese
but exclusive of Troops), amounted in 1848 to
689
males and 274 females, or taken together, to 963 souls; and the mortality during the
year
has been 83 in number or 8.61 percent. — The Blue Book shows a mortality of 125
persons under this head, but I must remark that 42 seamen are included there
in
the number of deaths, who cannot be considered as forming a part of our fixed population. The white population in 1847 amounted to 603 males and 264 females,
making
a total of 867 souls; and the mortality
during the year, excluding 26 seamen, was