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afford to this Colony in Military, Sanitary, and Commercial points of view, but chiefly for the purpose of enabling the Colonial Government to maintain order amongst the lawless population who have established themselves there, and who have hitherto been amenable to no practical control.
2. These circumstances induced Lord Malmesbury in 1858 to instruct Lord Elgin to endeavour to obtain a cession of the promontory from the Chinese Government; but as the Despatch did not reach Lord Elgin until after the Treaty of Tientsin had been signed, the proposal has remained in abeyance until now, while the evil has greatly increased owing to the impunity with which the inhabitants have been enabled to carry on their depredations.
3. Mr. Bruce, with whom I have been in communication on the subject, has promised to avail himself of the first fitting opportunity to negotiate with the Chinese Government for a cession, and towards this he has authorized the occupation of Kowloon as a temporary encamping ground for the