the evidence equally conflicting, the blame being laid by one
party upon the other, by the consumers in England on the retail
dealers, by the retail dealers on the merchants, and by the
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 495
merchants on the Chinese packers who in turn blamed all
the others . But the results of this practice of adulterating tea
were curiously like the consequences of oversizing. As the
mildew in Manchester goods caused the Chinese buyers to take
up with Indian fabrics, so the systematic adulteration of Chinese
tea leaves induced the English consumer to give the preference
to Indian teas . India reaped the advantage in both cases .
Two minor questions were much discussed during the year
1873 , viz . different forms of bills of lading and ocean racing.
On 27th January, 1873, the Chamber of Commerce adopted
the homeward bill of lading known as No. 4, drawn up, after
much public discussion, by a Committee of London merchants ,
and resolved that shippers should , whenever practicable, give
preference to steamers agreeing to make use of this form .
Subsequently, however, much discussion and dissension arose in
the Colony as to the comparative position of shippers under the
so -called eastern bill of lading and that of Holt's line of steamers
which at the time (April, 1873) commenced running on the
Yangtsze also . Another subject, connected with rates of freight
rather than bills of lading, but equally the subject of public
attention in 1872 and 1873, was the practice of ocean racing,
frequently indulged in between fast tea steamers. The loss of
the S.S. Drummond Castle (May 31 , 1873 ) having been attributed
to this previously rather popular practice, the Hongkong Insurance
Company addressed (July, 1873 ) a letter to Lloyds, pointing
out the tendency which the system of graduating rates of freight,
in proportion to the speed of the vessel, had towards encouraging
ocean racing at dangerous speed, and thus needlessly adding
to the risks of the underwriters. In consequence of this action,
the P. & O. Company gave up the system of a differential scale
of rates for freight, in order to avoid even the appearance of
encouraging the practice of preferring speed to safety.
The currency question engaged the attention of the mercantile
community and of the Government frequently during this period.
The dollar had practically been the unit of value for the
European community from the earliest days of the Colony and
496 CHAPTER XX.
the Mexican dollar had been made (January 9, 1869) a legal
tender. But, side by side with the dollar, the local Chinese
community had all along employed the national Chinese tael
standard (0.717 taels' weight of sycee silver being counted equal
to one dollar), and European merchants, in dealing with Chinese
in Hongkong or with any merchants in the open ports of China,
had likewise to use the tael standard, side by side with the dollar
standard in which they kept their own accounts. The Chinese,
having no faith in foreign dollars, bored and cut them for
purposes of testing and stamped or, as it is locally called, chopped
them for purposes of identification . Every dollar became thus
after a short time terribly defaced and mutilated or, as it was
called , a chopped or chop dollar. Moroever, as the Chinese
looked upon every coin , even when known to be genuine, only
as so much sycee silver, they took dollars, clean or chopped ,
only by weight, broke chopped dollars into pieces, and used
broken particles of dollars in place of small coins. Chop dollars,
in different stages of laceration, and broken pieces of silver,
weighed out from hand to hand and re-assayed (shroffed ) by
experts in every transaction, were thus the medium of business.
Undefaced dollars, fancied for special purposes, were always at
a premium. For small transactions, the Chinese used their
national copper cash, but these cash had likewise a fluctuating
value and the proportion of clean and defaced, whole and broken
cash, intermixed in every hundred , also affected the value of
every string of cash. At the beginning of this period there was
thus, apart from banknotes, virtually no fixed money currency
in the Colony, and it is one of the merits of his administration
that it partially remedied this defect.
The annual circulation of local banknotes (from five dollars
upwards) averaged , from 1864 down to 1872, about two and a
half million dollars. But although these notes were popular
among the Chinese, the experience of the past had shewn that
the Chinese mercantile community are liable to sudden panics .
For twelve months after the collapse of the Agra and Commercial
Banks, which was followed by a run upon the Oriental and
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY, 497
Chartered Banks, the circulation of banknotes in Hongkong
averaged only one and a half million dollars. Now in June
1872, the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank obtained the Governor's
permission to issue one dollar notes and thus to supply a much
felt want. The Bank accordingly issued (October, 1872 ) such
notes, of which there were, twelve months later, about $ 175,000
in circulation . This raised the total of banknotes in circulation
in 1873 to three and one fourth million dollars, and in 1874
the circulation of banknotes reached three and a half millions.
But in December, 1873 , the Governor received an intimation
that the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury
disapproved of the issue of one dollar notes on the ground that
these notes would be largely in the hands of the poorest Chinese
who might be even more subject to panics than the mercantile
classes. The Governor was instructed to order the withdrawal
of these notes unless serious public inconvenience should result
from such a course . When the Governor accordingly called
upon the Bank ( February, 1874 ) to show cause why the one
dollar notes should not be called in, the whole community took
up the matter and a numerously signed Memorial, supported
by a special resolution of the Chamber of Commerce, was
forwarded to H.M. Government ( March, 1874) in favour of
the retention of these one dollar notes .
There were, at the beginning of this period, three new silver
dollars competing for public favour, viz ., a new Mexican dollar,
the American trade dollar and a Japanese dollar (yen) . The
Chinese shroffs and traders of Hongkong and Canton having
formed a combination, with a view to reject the new Mexican
dollar, the Viceroy of Canton had it assayed (March 13 , 1872 )
and issued (November 30, 1872 ) a proclamation which was
published in the Hongkong Government Gazette ( December 7 ,
1872 ) . It was thus officially announced, that the new Mexican
dollar consisted of 9 parts pure silver and 1 part alloy ; that to
pay 100 taels' weight of pure sycee, it would be necessary to pay
11111 in new Mexican dollars ; that 100 new Mexican dollars
are equal to 10141 old Mexican dollars, the new Mexican dollar
32
498 CHAPTER XX.
being, within a fraction of 1.5 per cent ., better than the old .
Next year the Chinese Government likewise had the American
trade dollar assayed (September 27, 1873) , when it was found to
consist of 8,961 parts of pure silver and 1,039 alloy, and
it was stated that to pay 100 taels' weight of pure sycee, it
would be necessary to pay 1116 taels' weight of American
trade dollars, and that 100 American trade dollars are worth
100:07 new Mexican dollars or 10148 old Mexican dollars,
the American trade dollar being, within a fraction of 15
per cent., better than the old Mexican dollar. In consequence
of the publication of these assays, the new Mexican dollar
passed into favour with the Chinese of Hongkong. The
foreign mercantile community, though practically accepting
the new Mexican dollar, was anxious to obtain an English
dollar which should be guarded, by special prohibition, against
defacement by stamping. At a meeting of the Chamber of
Commerce ( January 16, 1874) a strong feeling was manifested
in favour of doing away with chopped dollars altogether. A
desire was expressed to obtain the necessary coins from England ,
instead of being dependent upon two foreign countries for them.
An adjourned meeting of the Chamber ( February 2 , 1874)
expressed an almost unanimous opinion against introducing the
American trade dollar and the Japanese yen as legal tenders
in the Colony, and a decided preference for a suitable dollar to
he coined by the Royal Mint in London. Later on, the
Chamber of Commerce advised the Colonial Secretary to com-
municate with the Authorities of the Mint as to the coinage
of a suitable dollar for the Colony. In reply, the Governor
informed the Chamber (July 31 , 1875 ) that Mr. Fremantle,
the Deputy Master of the Mint, was of opinion that the
Japanese yen might be accepted as a legal tender in Hong-
kong, that the American trade dollar, not being a dollar of an
equivalent value, should be rejected, but that the proposal to
coin in England a special dollar for Hongkong was impracti-
cable, as it would cost two per cent . for coinage and one per
cent. for freight to lay it down in Hongkong. This brought
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 499
the movement to a standstill. But when, next year, the Shanghai
Chamber of Commerce invited the Hongkong Chamber to join
in an address advocating the establishment by the Chinese
Government of a Mint, the Hongkong Chamber resolved
(November 2 , 1876 ) not to make any recommendation of that
sort, but expressed itself in favour of the dollar being made
the uniform standard of value in China. Whilst thus the
general desire for a special Hongkong dollar remained unfulfilled ,
the Government obtained from the Mint in London a new supply
of subsidiary coins for use in the Colony. A quantity of bronze
cents was obtained first (July 19, 1875 ) and subsequently a
large supply of silver five cent pieces, ten cent pieces and twenty
cent pieces (June 20, 1876 ) , which has been kept up ever since.
On 27th January, 1873 , the Chamber of Commerce resolved
to memorialize each of the Naval Commanders -in-chief on the
Station, requesting them to assist in obtaining a new, complete
and reliable survey of the coast from Hongkong all the way to
Woosung. The local Government also joined in this movement,
when the mail-steamer Bokhara struck (June 21 , 1873 ) on a
previously unknown rock in the fairway just outside Lycemoon
pass, and a reward of ten dollars was offered to fishermen for
pointing out any hitherto unknown rock in the neighbourhood
of Hongkong. The Chamber, having received favourable replies
from the British and American Admirals, proceeded (August 27,
1873) to memorialize both the British and the United States
Governments, to move them to take concerted action in com-
pleting the surveys required . In January, 1874, the Chamber
was informed by Vice- Admiral Shadwell, that the Admiralty was
going to send out at once a suitable surveying vessel to complete
the survey of the coast of China.
In the matter of lighthouses, the Chamber requested the
Governor (January 27 , 1873 ) to obtain from the Secretary of
State a grant from the Special Fund, to cover the cost of erecting
several lighthouses. This application was indeed negatived
(June, 1878) , but on 27th August, 1873, the Chamber was
informed that the Government had resolved to erect lighthouses
500 CHAPTER XX.
at Cape D'Aguilar, Cape Collinson and Green Island. An
Ordinance ( 17 of 1873) was passed ( December 9, 1873) giving
the Government power to advance, for the purpose, out of the
Colonial Treasury, funds to be subsequently repaid out of the light.
dues. At Cape D'Aguilar, a round stone tower was erected ,
200 feet above the sea, and measuring from base to vane 57 feet .
It was furnished with a fixed dioptric white light of the first
order, which was lit for the first time on 16th April, 1875, and
found to be visible at a distance of 21 nautical miles . The
position of the lighthouse was calculated to be in 22° 12' 14"
Lat. N. and 114° 15 ' 44" Long. E. The lighthouse erected (July
1 , 1875 ) on Green Island was furnished with a fixed dioptric-
red light of the fourth order, visible at a distance of 14 miles .
The third lighthouse, that on Cape Collinson (between Cape
D'Aguilar and the Lyeemoon) , was completed eight months later
(March 1 , 1876 ) . It was supplied with a fixed dioptric apparatus
of the sixth order, shewing a white light visible at a distance of
8 miles. Light dues were forthwith (March 30, 1875 ) levied
on every ship, entering the waters of the Colony, at the rate of
one cent per ton ; men-of-war, Chinese junks, and river-steamers
entering the harbour in daytime only, were exempt, and river-
steamers entering by night had (since September 1 , 1875) to pay
only one third of a cent per ton.
It appears that, previous to Sir Arthur's arrival, the British
Cabinet addressed some remonstrance to the Lisbon Government
with reference to the undeniable horrors of the Macao coolie
trade, whereupon the Portuguese Government replied, that the
coolie emigration referred to, whether slave trade or not ,
flourished as much in Hongkong as in Macao. This was rather
a home thrust. But whilst one unofficial Member of Council
(J. Whittall) denied this insinuation and stated in Council
(February 11 , 1873 ) that English merchants in Hongkong had
no interest in the Macao coolie trade, another unofficial Member
( R. Rowett) subsequently alleged that London commercial
houses and banks of the highest standing, as well as certain
men and firms in Hongkong, had derived large profits from
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 501
the Macao coolie trade. The Chief Justice (J. Smale) , now
took occasion to announce from the Bench (April, 1873) , that
he held the coolie trade to be a slave trade, and that any one in
Hongkong taking part in it, either directly or indirectly, would
be liable to be punished for felony under the Imperial Act
for the suppression of slavery. The result of all this agitation
was that, with special reference to the fact that two Spanish
ships (the Buena Ventura and Yrurac Bat) had been fitted
up in Hongkong before proceeding to Macao to load coolies,
an Emigrant-ship Fittings Ordinance (3 of 1873) was passed
(April 24, 1873 ) and came into force a few months later
(August 2, 1878 ) . The effect of this Ordinance was to prevent
any person in the Colony in any way supplying stores or fittings
to vessels in the harbour destined to carry emigrants from any
place outside of Hongkong . Not content with this Ordinance,
the Governor brought before the Council ( April 17 , 1873) , with
special reference to the ship Fatchoy, which had taken emigrants
to Cuba, another Bill for the repression of abuses in relation
to Chinese Emigration . Messrs . Ph. Ryrie and J. Whittall
strongly opposed this Bill (April 28, 1873 ) , on the ground
that the Fittings Ordinance was perfectly sufficient to rectify
and prevent all abuses connected with coolie emigration, and
that the present Bill was too sweeping. The protest of the
two unofficial Members having been disregarded, they absented
themselves from the meetings of Council until the Bill, after
many alterations and additions, had passed as Ordinance 5 of
1873. When the Macao coolie trade had been entirely closed
(March 27 , 1874), both Ordinances were repealed (September 7,
1874) by the consolidated Emigration Ordinance (5 of 1874) .
This Ordinance, once more, placed the issue of warrants in
connection with emigrant ships exclusively in the hands of the
Governor, who was instructed to allow contract emigration only
to countries where a British Magistrate could control the
enforcement of the contracts. To stop abuses connected with
emigration, the Committee of the Tungwa Hospital applied
for and received permission from the Governor to employ special
502 CHAPTER XX.
detectives to discover kidnappers, and in May, 1873 , whilst
the Macao coolie trade was still going on, these detectives .
brought almost every day some two or three cases into Court .
Two years later a deputation of Chinese merchants agreed
(August 9, 1875) with the U.S. Consul, D. H. Bailey, to form
a Committee to assist him in ascertaining the moral character
of women wishing to emigrate to America, with a view to stop
the manifest abuses connected with voluntary emigration from
Hongkong to San Francisco. The Dutch Government at Batavia
also made an attempt to start Chinese emigration, under Dutch
official management, from Hongkong to Acheen (August 20 ,
1875) , but the Governor refused to sign a warrant or to sanction
such emigration, although it was eventually proposed to do away
with contracts altogether.
In the old question of the Customs Blockade of Hongkong,
the mercantile community had a fertile source of constant irri-
tation. A report of the Chamber of Commerce, published (Aprib
30, 1872 ) within a fortnight after Sir A. Kennedy's arrival,
stated that a Memorial to the Secretary of State, in course of
preparation, had not yet been completed, because the Chinese
were afraid to give evidence, but that a system of espionage
within and a blockade outside the Colony existed . The Chamber
also expressed a hope that Sir A. Kennedy would institute a
strict inquiry with a view to prevent Chinese in the Government
Service from rendering assistance to the Chinese Blockade officers..
It was an open secret at the time that these remarks pointed
again at the Registrar General's Office, a Chinese clerk of which
resigned soon after (June, 1872 ) . What gave the blockade
question special importance in the eyes of Hongkong merchants ,
was the general belief that Sir R. Hart encouraged the Chinese
to believe that eventually the English Government might be
brought to consent to the surrender of all ex-territoriality rights
over Hongkong and to include the Colony in the list of Chinese-
Treaty ports. Sir Arthur was very slow in taking up this grievance
of Hongkong merchants, but at last (December 15, 1873 ) he
appointed a Commission (Ph. Ryrie, H. G. Thomsett, M. S.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY, 503
Tounochy) to inquire into abuses connected with the action of
the Chinese Maritime Customs in the neighbourhood of Hong-
kong. Whilst this Commission was sitting, the Harbour Master
(H. G. Thomsett) stated, in his official report for the year 1873 ,
that the junk trade of Hongkong had diminished in consequence
of the interference of Chinese cruisers. Moreover the latter,
seizing a junk bound for Hongkong, the Kamhopsing, in the
Lyeemoon pass (January 19, 1874), aptly illustrated the truth of
the Harbour Master's statement . The report of the Commission
(April 28, 1874 ) entirely confirmed the views of the community,
but the Governor refused to publish it until the decision of the
Secretary of State on the report was received ( May 10, 1875) .
Meanwhile a fresh outrage occurred. A Chinese revenue junk
was arrested near Cape D'Aguilar (May, 1874 ) in the act of
firing into some fishing boats in British waters. The crew
of the junk were tried in the Supreme Court on a charge of
piracy, but the Viceroy of Canton wrote to the Governor claiming
the vessel as a Government cruiser, acknowledging that she had
no right to fire in British waters and promising to punish the
men. Thereupon the Attorney General was ordered by the
Governor to enter a nolle prosequi. The men were accordingly
discharged to the great regret of the Chief Justice and the whole
community. The Chinese community also presented (June 24 ,
1874) a petition to the Queen, and this petition was followed
up by a decision of the Chamber of Commerce (August 3, 1874)
to memorialize the Secretary of State, and by a public meeting
(September 14, 1874) which condemned the blockade as an
organized invasion of the freedom and sanctuary of the port and
harbour of Hongkong . In reply to a Memorial agreed to at this
meeting, Lord Carnarvon, in a dispatch published 11th May,
1875, admitted that abuses and excesses had occurred in con-
nection with the action of the Chinese revenue cruisers, but
pleaded that the exercise of the right of search, in close proximity
to Hongkong, for the purpose of defeating attempts on the part
of Chinese subjects to defraud the revenue of their country, did
not affect the freedom of the port, and afforded no valid ground
504 CHAPTER XX.
for diplomatic remonstrance. As a remedy of the existing state
of things, Lord Carnarvon revived (March 22, 1875 ) the old .
suggestion of Sir R. Alcock, to entrust to a Chinese Consul in
Hongkong the privilege of collecting from junkmasters the
receipts for export duty levied in China and issuing to them
in the Colony similar receipts for duty payable on account of
importation into China. Lord Carnarvon's reply caused much
discontent in Hongkong, as the position taken by him was
honestly believed by Hongkong merchants to impair British
prestige in China . Considerable excitement was caused soon after
by the news that the British steamer Carisbrook had been fired
into (June 13 , 1875 ) when crowded with Chinese passengers and
captured by the Chinese Customs cruiser Pengchauhoi (officered
by Englishmen in the Hoppo's pay) for landing passengers
at Hainan when that island was not yet opened to foreign
trade. Great rejoicing, however, took place in Hongkong, when
a dispatch from Mr. Herbert, the Under- Secretary of State,
was read in Council (January 7 , 1876 ) announcing that Lord
Carnarvon had formally renounced the views of Sir Brooke
Robertson and come round to see that the community of
Hongkong really had a grievance and were entitled to protection
and relief. Sir Arthur now at last took up the matter and
recommended three proposals, intended to solve the knotty
problem, viz. ( 1 ) that all Chinese revenue cruisers should be
prohibited interfering with Hongkong junks with the exception
of those of the Hoppo ; (2 ) that a definite Chinese tariff of
import and export duties, applicable to Hongkong junks, and
fixed regulations for the Hoppo's dealings with Hongkong junk-
masters be published and adhered to ; (3 ) that a joint Board
should be appointed to investigate all complaints of illegal
seizure. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed these proposals
(February 3 , 1876 ) and addressed Lord Carnarvon accordingly
(February 10 , 1876 ) . The matter now passed into the hands of
the Foreign Office and became the subject of negotiations between
H.M. Minister at Peking (Sir Thomas Wade) and the Tsungli
Yamên. The latter, of course, denounced the first and second
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 505
of Sir Arthur's proposals as utterly impracticable, but adopted
a shadow of the third by including in the Chefoo Convention
(September 17 , 1876 ) a stipulation providing that a Mixed
Commission, consisting of a British Consul, a Hongkong Officer
and a Chinese Official, should arrange a set of regulations
calculated to benefit the revenue collection of China without
interfering with the commercial interests of Hongkong. When
it was rumoured later on, that Sir Brooke Robertson was to
be appointed a Member of the proposed Commission, the
Chamber of Commerce at once passed a unanimous resolution
(February 12 , 1877) , protesting against such a measure as
defeating the ends of justice and common fairness.
Besides harassing the junk masters and subjecting the local
junk trade to severe exactions, the Customs Blockade caused a
portion of the Chinese trade, formerly confined to junks, to be
conducted by means of foreign-owned steamers and sailing
vessels. The Hoppo at Canton, whose revenues accrue ex-
clusively from the junk trade, found his monopoly seriously
impaired by the preference which Chinese merchants now gave
to the employment of foreign vessels. Accordingly he did
everything in his power to counteract this movement and sought
even to draw away from foreign steamers goods which for years
past had always been conveyed by them. It was discovered
(July, 1874) , that the Hoppo had for some time charged
differential duties on cotton imported in Chinese junks, lowering
the duty so far below the tariff rate levied by the Foreign
Maritime Customs that, even if foreign steamers had offered to
carry cotton gratis, it would still have paid Chinese importers
better to import the cotton by junks charging heavy freight .
But the movement in favour of foreign vessels continued to
spread among the Chinese. This movement , however, did not
stop at giving business to foreign steamers, but Chinese
merchants gradually took to purchasing steamers and working
them on their own account. The starting of the first merchant
steamer, Aden, under the Chinese flag (December, 1872 ) , by a
Chinese Company which would not allow foreigners to hold
506 CHAPTER XX.
any of its shares and which sought to obtain admission for
its steamers to ports in China not open to foreign trade,
heralded a change in the share which foreign merchants had
hitherto enjoyed in the coasting trade, and the movement was
viewed by many with serious apprehensions. This Company,
which (in 1874) developed into the well-known China Merchants
Steam Navigation Company, failed indeed to obtain the privilege
of trading, by means of steamers, with ports not opened to
foreign commerce, but instead of that monopoly the Company
received official recognition and organization and the privilege
of carrying 627,000 out of a total of 1,800,000 piculs of the
annual tribute rice . There was at the bottom of this movement
the vain hope of developing this Chinese Company to such an
extent as to drive foreign-owned steamers entirely out of the
coasting trade. But although the Company was well supplied
with funds, strongly supported by Chinese officials and merchants
in every port, and purchased (January 15, 1877) the whole of
the steamers, real estate, wharves and plant of the Shanghai
Union Steam Navigation Company, it only proved how un-
founded was the fear that the whole coasting trade would pass
into native hands. This Chinese Company obtained no more
than that share in the coasting trade which naturally belongs
to the Chinese, and its history demonstrated the truth that it
is in the matter of money where the strength of the foreign
trade in China lies, and that the greater the share which the
Chinese take in the minor portions of the trade, the greater
will be the growth of the more important portions of the
foreign trade with China, loss in one direction being directly
compensated by gain in another.
Sir A. Kennedy was the first Governor of Hongkong who
invited prominent Chinese merchants, although they were mostly
the servants (compradors) of the principal English firms , to
social gatherings and public receptions at Government House .
This practice, which was rather distasteful to most English
merchants, Sir Arthur stoutly adhered to . He also for some
time encouraged the Chinese to bring any public grievances,
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 507
they might have, before him. Shortly after his arrival, a
Chinese deputation waited on him (April 4, 1872 ) , when he
told them that the Chinese could always see him when they
had matters to lay before him , if they gave notice before hand
and brought an interpreter with them. The Chinese were not
slow in availing themselves of this offer which rescinded sans
façon the policy initiated by Sir H. Robinson. The outgoing
and incoming Directors of the Tungwa Hospital now made
it a rule to wait on the Governor ouce a year. The first thing
they asked of the Governor (December, 1872) was that he
should pass an Ordinance punishing adultery in the case of
Chinese women . Considering that nearly every man in the
deputation had formally married several wives and was, if
English law had been applied , liable to be punished for bigamy,
it was rather naive of these Chinamen to ask that their runaway
concubines should be punished under English law for adultery.
The next thing they asked (July, 1873 ) was that the Governor
should grant the Chinese community some form of municipal
government, and, to begin with, authorize the election, by the
people, of a Chinese Municipal Board, consisting of two Chinese
residents from each district , to assist the Registrar General with
their advice in all Chinese municipal matters . In December
1874, they urged the Governor to pass an Ordinance making
it compulsory for all Chinese shops and firms to register the
names of all their active and sleeping partners. In the following
year they solicited an improved Bankruptcy Law, the erection
of a harbour of refuge to be used by small craft in case of a
typhoon, the grant of a site for the erection of a Chinese
townhall, and the opening of a lepers' asylum on some small
island . It is only to be regretted that Sir Arthur could not
see his way to take up any of these suggestions, with the
exception of a site for a public meeting hall which he promised
to give them, and that he failed to make good the promise he
had hastily given. Towards the close of his administration ,
when he knew the Chinese character better, Sir Arthur changed
his attitude towards the Chinese and made an order (January 8,
508 CHAPTER XX.
1876 ) , couched in language of extraordinary circumlocution, the
effect of which briefly was, that the Chinese, whenever they
had any grievance or petition to present, should communicate
with the Government through the Registrar General.
How little hold the Government really had on the Chinese
population , was shewn by several incidents during this period .
In August, 1872 , the Executive ordered a small tax to be levied
on coolie lodging houses, with a view to bring these, generally
overcrowded, places under sanitary surveillance. But small as
the fee was, the Chinese at once resisted and the whole com-
munity was put to great inconvenience by a general strike of all
carrying coolies, kept up for three days. The coolies did not
resume work until they were given to understand that, as soon as
they returned to their work, the Government would entertain their
petition and repeal the tax. Another case in point is the Servants
Registration Ordinance (7 of 1866) . Efforts were made during
Sir A. Kennedy's administration, and especially in August, 1874,
to prevent this Ordinance continuing to be a dead letter, but
it was found impossible to enforce its provisions. The Chinese
managed to evade the law or persisted in disregarding it . The
same was the case with the measures taken by the Government
to repress public gambling. The Registrar General and the
Captain Superintendent of Police, having been appointed special
commissioners to see to the suppression of public gambling,
caused prosecutions to be instituted (May, 1872 ) against land-
lords owning houses in which secret gambling establishments
were kept, but the prosecutions broke down and whatever the
Government did in the matter proved fruitless. Public gambling
continued as before by means of pretended clubs and other
arrangements which proved to be entirely beyond the reach
of the law.
As regards sanitation, Dr. Dods, in his report for 1872 ,
formulated the theory that fever is most prevalent in Hongkong
when the rainfall is below the average and the range of the
thermometer is small, and Dr. Ayres added , in 1873, the axiom
that the heavier the rainfall, the better is the health of the
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 509
community. One hundred men of H.M.S. Barossa were attacked
with fever in 1872 , whilst the ship was in dock at Aberdeen.
Genuine typhoid fever was not noticed in the Colony until 1874.
when some cases were imported by ships. Dengue fever occurred
in Hongkong for the first time in September, 1872 , imported
from the North . It was officially declared an infections disease
(October 4, 1872 ) . In 1874. many cases of phthisis occurred
both among the European and Chinese communities. But on
the whole there was no extraordinary outbreak of serious disease
during this period . The attention of the Government was drawn
by Dr. Ayres, in spring 1874, to the extraordinary defects of
scavenging and domestic sanitation in the Chinese quarters
of Taipingshan and Saiyingpun, where it had become customary
to keep, under Government licences, pigs on the upper floors of
densely crowded houses. The scavenging arrangements of the
town were somewhat improved in consequence (October 2 , 1874 ) .
but otherwise the sanitation of the Colony remained as it was .
The annual death rate of Hongkong per 1,000 of the whole
population was 22:57 in 1873 , 32-23 (owing to the many deaths
caused by the typhoon) in 1874, and 24:29 in 1875, but Dr.
Ayres remarked, in his report for 1876, that, considering the
defective sanitation of the town, it was a wonder to him that
the mortality was so small. Mount Davis and the hill side above
Kennedy Road were covered with fir trees in 1876 and a large
number of eucalyptus trees, imported from Australia, were planted
in different localities. Building operations on the Peak multi-
plied in summer 1876 and residence on the Peak now commenced
to be widely popular as a summer resort. The Civil Hospital
having been demolished by the typhoon of 1874, the patients were
accommodated in the former Hotel de l'Univers in Hollywood
Road whilst a new and larger hospital was erected . The private
Seamen's Hospital, erected by Jardine, Matheson & Co. on the
hill above Wantsai, having for years been carried on at a loss ,
was closed in March 1873. The Small-pox Hospital, which
from 1871 to 1873 had been located on Stonecutters ' Island ,
was also closed in April, 1873, and the patients were thenceforth
510 CHAPTER XX.
accommodated in town at the Civil Hospital. A new Lock
Hospital was established, in connection with the new Civil
Hospital, and a series of regulations for it published in the
Gazette (November 2, 1875) . The Chinese also started what
was at first intended to be a branch of the Tungwa Hospital
at Wantsai ( December, 1872 ) but subsequently developed into
a separate public dispensary at the Wato Temple.
In the educational problem of the Colony Sir A. Kennedy
took much interest, but only as an uncompromising secularist .
The Hon . Ph. Ryrie having mentioned in Council (April 29,
1872) the need of a Public School for the education of the
children of middle-class Europeans, the Governor stated at the
next meeting of Council (May 16 , 1872 ) that in his opinion
the Government should not move in the matter until the views
and requirements of the community upon the subject had been
fully ascertained . Accordingly a public meeting was held at
the City Hall (June 25 , 1872 ) and attended by the Governor
himself, who spoke strongly in favour of a non-denominational
scheme, and the general feeling of the majority of those present
appeared to be in favour of that view. A Committee was
appointed to report upon the suggestion, made at this meeting,
to resuscitate St. Paul's College, to turn it into a secular
European middle- class school and to work it as a feeder of the
Government Central School. Eventually a Grant-in-Aid school,
under the management of the Hon . Ph. Ryrie, was established
by Mr. and Mrs. Hanlon, called the Victoria English School,
but it failed to fulfil its purpose and soon became a Portuguese
school under the management of the Roman Catholic Mission.
For the better promotion of elementary education in the Colony,
Dr. Stewart recommended to the Government ( February 14,
1873 ) the introduction in the Colony of an adaptation of Forster's
Education Act of 1st August, 1870. But in adapting Forster's
Scheme to the peculiarities of Hongkong. Dr. Stewart stripped
it of the concessions which the Education Act of 1870 made to the
recognized needs of a religious education . Instead of adopting
Forster's conscience clause, Dr. Stewart made the Hongkong
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 511
Grant-in-Aid Scheme an absolutely secular measure, offering to
all schools, willing to devote four consecutive hours a day to
exclusively secular teaching, annual grants, on the basis of
definite results in secular instruction , ascertained by examining
each individual scholar. This Scheme having been approved by
the Legislative Council (April 24, 1873 ) and provisionally
accepted by the Protestant and Catholic Missionaries, was at
once put in operation, 5 Protestant and 1 Catholic school being
placed under the Scheme. To conciliate objections raised by
some of the Missionaries (Dr. Eitel and Bishop Raimondi)
to the absolutely secular teaching demanded of Grant-in-Aid
schools, whilst the Government schools used Chinese school
#
books containing Confucian and Buddhist religious teachings,
a compromise (refused by the Catholics) was made, allowing
the Grant-in-Aid schools to use Chinese reading books containing
an admixture of religious teaching . To compile these reading
books, the Governor appointed ( April 17, 1873 ) Dr. Eitel as
chairman of a Schoolbook Committee which produced without
delay a set of three graduated readers after the pattern of the
Irish National Schoolbook Society's publications . By the end
of the year 1876 there were 11 Protestant schools under the
Grant-in-Aid Scheme, but the Roman Catholics withdrew entirely,
being dissatisfied with the rigid exclusion of religion from every
one of the four hours of daily instruction required by the Scheme.
The attendance in schools under Government supervision rose
during Sir Arthur's administration from 1,480 scholars in 1872
to 2,922 scholars in 1876. There was similar progress made,
during this period , in the sphere of religious education. Bishop
Burdon resuscitated St. Paul's College, in 1876, by opening a
Church of England school for Chinese and European scholars
under an English Headmaster (A. J. May) and two Chinese
Assistant Masters. Most striking, however, was the manner in
which the Roman Catholic schools now came to the front under
the direction of Bishop Raimondi. When the latter first arrived
in the Colony, in 1858, there was only one Catholic school
in existence, numbering eight boys, but in 1874 there were
512 CHAPTER XX.
18 Roman Catholic schools at work with 723 scholars under
instruction, and in the following year (November 15, 1875)
the Christian Brothers re-organized the former St. Saviour's
School as a College dedicated to St. Joseph which, by the end
of the year 1876 , numbered 165 boys. The establishment of
a Morrison Scholarship in connection with the Government
Central School (January, 1874) , the selection and clearing of a
costly site for new and extensive buildings for the use of the
Central School (May 30, 1876) , and the collection of funds in
the Colony in aid of the new Chinese Professorship at Oxford
(September 15 , 1876 ) , indicate the interest taken during this
time in matters educational.
The religious history of the period under review is
characterized by the opening of St. Joseph's Church (November
30, 1872 ) , by the installation of two Bishops, Bishop Burdon
(December 31 , 1874) and Bishop Raimondi (January 19 , 1875) ,
and by the passing of two Ordinances, a Marriage Ordinance
and a St. Paul's College Ordinance. The former Ordinance
(4 of 1875 ) was passed (April 8 , 1875 ) to secure more accurate
registration of Christian marriages (Chinese non- Christian
marriages being left out of consideration) and to give equality
in privileges to the various religious denominations . In deference
to objections raised by Bishop Raimondi, this Ordinance was
subsequently repealed and another (14of 1875) substituted
and passed (January 7, 1876 ) after a most acrimonious debate
in Council concerning the objectionable attitude taken by the
Roman Catholic clergy. That attitude was described by the
Governor in very strong terms which were afterwards deliberately
recorded in the Gazette (March 4 , 1876) . As regards St. Paul's
College the revocation , in consequence of the resignation of
Bishop Alford (November 1 , 1872 ) , of the original Letters
Patent (of May 11 , 1849 , and January 14, 1867 ) , having
abolished the See and Bishopric of Hongkong, a Missionary
Bishop ( J. S. Burdon) was appointed Warden of the College
whilst the lease and site vested in the Archbishop of Canterbury
(Ordinance 7 of 1875 ) . The Chinese community also had some
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 513
religious excitement during this periol by the appearance in
the harbour (January 22, 1874) of a large junk fitted up as
a floating temple for the worship of three large idols . The
vessel, known as the spiritual junk,' was visited daily by
thousands of worshippers admitted on payment of a fee.
Finding the business extremely profitable, the proprietors hired
the Tunghing Theatre where the idols were exhibited and
worshippers admitted on payment of 15 cash a person. As the
matter was thus plainly a financial speculation, the Registrar
General (C. C. Smith) , with the approval of the leading Chinese
merchants, interfered on the ground that the theatre was not
licensed for religious purposes and the proprietors were fined
$15 in the Police Court.
There was annually during this period the usual number
of conflagrations in the town, but since 1875 their frequency
appeared to increase. Yet none of these conflagrations extended
beyond the destruction of two, or at the utmost six, houses at a
time. But quite a number of vessels were on fire within two
years. The Peruvian ship Columbia was burned in the harbour
( February 15, 1874) and the Pacific mail-steamer Japan was
destroyed by fire at sca, in close proximity to Hongkong
(December 18, 1874), causing the death of a large number of
Chinese passengers. The S.S. Panay (August 30, 1875) , the
coalship Pilgrim ( September 20 , 1875) and a Chinese junk laden
with hay (November, 3, 1875 ) were on fire in the harbour
in one and the same year. In the one year 1874, three ships
were wrecked at or near Hongkong . The S.S. Wanlung, built
in Hongkong, capsized (February 13, 1874) on her first trip
with passengers to Canton, within a few minutes after leaving
the wharf, when some 30 lives were lost in the harbour. The
S.S. Mongol was lost on a rock near Cape D'Aguilar when 17
persons were drowned (December 12, 1874) , and the S.S. Japan
ran on a rock, near Wantsai, in the harbour (December 17,
1874) . Several collisions occurred during this period. The
barque Glimt was sunk in harbour in consequence of a collision
with the S.S. Geelong but was successfully raised again (March,
33
514 CHAPTER XX.
1872) . The steamship Glendarrock and the barque Parame also
collided in the harbour (December 7, 1876 ) . In consequence of
the explosion of the superheater of the river-steamer Kinshan
(June, 1876 ), by which a passenger was killed, two engineers
of the steamer were charged with manslaughter and tried in
Supreme Court, but they were found not guilty.
The severest disaster that ever befell the Colony of Hongkong
(since July, 1841 ) was caused by a typhoon of unprecedented
suddenness and power. It commenced on the evening of 22nd
September, 1874, when small boats were still plying on the
harbour, and was at its height shortly after midnight. The tide
was exceptionally high at the time and an earthquake appears
to have occurred whilst the typhoon was raging. On the
morning of 23rd September, 1874, the town looked as if it had
undergone a terrific bombardment . Thousands of houses were
unroofed, hundreds of European and Chinese dwellings were in
ruins, large trees had been torn out by the roots and hurled to a
distance, most of the streets were impassable, being obstructed
with fallen trees, roof timber, window frames and mounds of
soil thrown up by the bursting of drains. Business was at a
complete standstill for several days . The Praya was covered with
wrecked sampans and the debris of junks and ships, whilst in
every direction dead bodies were seen floating about or scattered
along the ruins of what was once the Praya wall. Thirty-five
foreign vessels, trusting in their anchors, were wrecked or badly
injured. Over 2,000 lives were lost in the harbour within the
space of about six hours, during which time the screams of
Chinese in distress on the water were heard by residents, on
the upper levels of the town , to rise above the terrific din of the
storm . The Hospital-ship Meanee, the only ship in harbour
which held on to her anchors, had her four anchors twisted into
one mass of tangled iron , the photograph of which is a curious.
sight. Special attraction for sightseers, who came out in thou-
sands to view the havoc which had been wrought, was afforded by
two steamers, the Leonore and the Albay, wrecked on the Praya
wall near Victoria wharf, and the Pacific mail-steamer Alaska,
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 515
blown ashore and left high and dry on the beach at Aberdeen.
The loss of the river-steamer White Cloud near Macao also
attracted much attention. The amount of property destroyed
in Hongkong within those six terrible hours was estimated at
five million dollars. A fire that broke out while the typhoon
was at its height was actually put out by the force of the wind.
Her Majesty sent (November 18, 1874) a message expressing
her sincere regret for the suffering which this sad calamity
occasioned. ' The brothers Tauffer, who had specially distin-
guished themselves by daring and successful efforts to save lives,
were presented (January 7 , 1876 ), at the hands of the Governor,
with a testimonial by the Royal Humane Society. But very
little was done to utilize the lessons taught by this typhoon.
Meanwhile another typhoon swept over the Colony (May 31 ,
1875) . It did little damage, however, though Macao and
Canton suffered severely, as evidenced by the wreck of the river-
steamer Poyang, on her way from Canton to Macao, when some
100 lives were lost. A Humane Society was now formed in
Hongkong (July 26 , 1875) for the special purpose of preventing
the frequent loss of life in the harbour and particularly to give
assistance during typhoons. This Society, under the presidency
of the Hon . Ph. Ryrie, entered upon its labours with great
enthusiasm , officers were appointed and stations fixed , funds were
raised and left, after the purchase of the needful apparatus, a
large sum in hand (June 6, 1876 ) . A life-boat was talked of,
additional funds were voted by Legislative Council (December
11 , 1876 ) , and after that the whole scheme was allowed to drop.
The social life of the period under review is notable for
two sensational incidents. In March, 1872 , Mr. D. Welsh, a
highly talented and respected English merchant, head of the
firm MacGregor & Co., having freely commented , in a local
paper, on the public conduct of the Acting Chief Justice Ball,
was sentenced, without the option of a fine, to fourteen days'
confinement for contempt of Court. The whole foreign com-
munity, filled with indignation, petitioned the Governor to remit
the sentence. The Acting Chief Justice, having thereupon
516 CHAPTER XX.
suggested that the petition to the Governor should first be
withdrawn and an application for clemency made to the Court
by prisoner's Counsel, released Mr. Welsh as soon as these
conditions were complied with. To mark its sense of the
proceedings, the Chamber of Commerce, at its next meeting.
elected Mr. Welsh as Member of the Chamber. Another
sensational event of the same year was a duel fought with pistols
(July 29 , 1872 ) , on Kowloon Peninsula, on account of some-
card debt dispute between the Consuls for Spain and Peru,
the latter being wounded in the arm . Warrants for the arrest
of every person present at the affair were issued, but bail was
allowed . The two duellists were tried in Supreme Court (August
25, 1872) and, having pleaded guilty, were fined each in the
sum of $200 .
Quite a number of new institutions brightened social
life in the Colony during this period, the year 1872 being
specially productive in this respect. The Philharmonic Society
(Choral Society) which had been established in July 1872 .
gave concerts every winter, including also a choral festival held
at the Cathedral ( April 18 , 1876 ) . A Debating Society was
established in July 1872 but came to an end in the following:
year. A series of lectures given at the City Hall found
considerable favour with the public. The undertaking was
inaugurated in the presence of the Governor (November 5 ,
1872 ) by a lecture on Hongkong reminiscences by Dr. Legge,
and followed by four other lectures, by Dr. Dennys on Folklore
(November 19 , 1872 ) , by Dr. Eitel on Fengshui (December 6,
1872 ) , by Mr. J. J. Francis on Jesuitism (December 19, 1872)
and by Mr. J. W. Torrey on American Humourists (February
4 , 1873 ) . Another institution of the year 1872 is the Victoria
Recreation Club which was formed (May, 1872) by the
amalgamation of the Boat Club, Gymnasium and Swimming
Bath, and opened in its new form on 30th November, 1872-
The , publication of the China Punch was resumed on 5th
November, 1872, and continued at irregular intervals until
22nd November, 1876, when its talented editor (Middleton) left
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 517
the Colony. Subsequent years produced a few additional new
institutions. The Horticultural Society, which for many years
thereafter held an annual flower and vegetable show at the
Public Gardens, was established ( February 13, 1873 ) by the
official Garden Committee. Three years later (November 23 ,
1876) the Government formally withdrew its control of the Hor-
ticultural Society which, under unofficial management, continued
to exist for some years longer. The membersof the German
Liedertafel gave their first performance on 4th November,
1873, and continued to enliven winter evenings under the
direction of Dr. Clouth, whose departure from the Colony (April,
1874) was felt as a public loss . Another institution of the
year 1873 was the opening of the first Good Templars' Lodge in
Hongkong (September 25, 1873) , which was followed by a steady
spread of the Temperance movement in the Colony and led
eventually to the opening of a Temperance Hall in Stanley Street
(April 17 , 1876) , subsequently removed to Queen's Road East.
During the time of Sir Arthur's administration the relations,
always friendly, which existed between the American and English
sections of the foreign community, were particularly cordial.
This was specially evidenced by the success of a reception given
by Admiral Jenkins, in 1872, on board the U. S. Flagship
Colorado, when the Governor and all leading residents attended ,
and especially by a grand promenade concert and supper, given,
at the City Hall , by the American residents (July 4, 1876 ) on
the occasion of the centennial celebration of American Indepen-
dence . The Yacht Club attracted special attention in 1875 by
an ocean yacht race (January 27 , 1875) from Hongkong to
Macao and back, won by the Wave, by the yacht race for the
American cup ( December 4, 1875) won by Naomi, and by
the enthusiastic farewell demonstration made on the occasion of
the departure (January 27 , 1876 ) of the Yacht Club's Commodore
(W. H. Forbes ) when the whole of the Club's yachts escorted
the mail steamer as far as Long Island.
The annual regattas and races were largely patronised during
this period. The Amateur Dramatic Corps gave very frequent
518 CHAPTER XX.
performances between 26th January, 1872 , and 19th February,
The District Grand Lodge of Freemasons invaded, in
1875, the Cathedral when a Masonic sermon was preached (De-
cember 23, 1875) by the Grand Chaplain , the Rev. H. H. Kidd .
The arrival of the Flying Squadron (April 7 , 1876 ) , consisting
of four frigates, gave a new zest to social life in 1876. The
latter year is also distinguished by the first loan exhibition of
works of art, held in the City Hall (July 18, 1876 ) . This
exhibition became eventually the parent of the Sketching Club.
In addition to the foregoing general description of the
progress made by the Colony during Sir A. Kennedy's adminis-
tration, the following particulars have yet to be mentioned . The
sphere of Hongkong's commercial operations was considerably
extended during this period by the opening up of new countries
and ports and by the starting of new lines of communication .
The famous expedition, under M. Dupuis and M. Millot , which
eventually led to the opening of Tungking (the North-east
of Annam) to foreign trade, started from Hongkong on 25th
October, 1872. The direct object of the expedition was to
convey, on behalf of the Chinese Government, munitions of war
to the Chinese army operating in the South of Yunnan against
the Mahomedan rebels. But the personal aim of M. Dupuis was
to demonstrate, in the eyes of France, the importance of northern
Annam as possessing, in the Red River, an artery of trade by
which the commerce of South-western China might conveniently
be tapped and directed to the Gulf of Tonquin. The expedition
returned to Hongkong (July 2 , 1873 ) , having successfully pushed
its way by the Red River route from Hanoi by way of Laokai to
Talifoo in Yunnan . That the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce
also looked to the opening up of South -western China is evidenced
by the above mentioned exploration of the commercial capabilities
of the West River, undertaken by Mr. Moss in 1872. Quite a
number of ports in different countries were opened to Hongkong
commerce during this period. The commercial ports of Legasbi
in Albay (Island of Luzon) and Tacloban (Island of Leyte) were
opened by the Spaniards (December 3, 1873 ) and so also the
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 519
Tungking ports of Hanoi and Haiphong (September 15, 1875).
under French protection, the Chinese port of Hoihow (on Hainan
Island) forming the harbour of Kiungchow (April 1 , 1876 ) , and
the Annamese port of Quinhon (November 1 , 1876 ) . New
steamship lines also were established during this time. The
China Trans- Pacific Steamship Company (December 30, 1873)
brought Hongkong and San Francisco still nearer together.
and was succeeded on this line by the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company (March 25, 1875 ) and the Oriental and Occidental
Steamship Company (May 27 , 1875) . On the Canton River,
Messrs. Butterfield and Swire started (July 20, 1875) a new
line of large river-steamers to run side by side with the older
Company's steamers between Canton and Hongkong . The
progress made by the Colony in the direction of ship-building,
is indicated by the completion (October, 1875 ) of the Cosmo-
politan Docks, where forthwith a small steamer (Fookien) of 200
tons was constructed and by the launching of two gunboats
(January, 1877) which were built for the Chinese Customs
Service, one by Messrs. Inglis & Co., at Spring Gardens, and
one at Captain G. U. Sands' Patent Slip at Westpoint. The
invention by Dr. Dennys, of a hydraulic cofferdam, for the
purpose of facilitating repairs to the hulls of ships (June 12 ,
1873 ) , must also be mentioned in this connection .
Further indications of progress are the establishment ( Feb-
ruary, 1872 ) of a new Bank, the Comptoir d'Escompte, the
formation of a Volunteer Fire Brigade (April 11 , 1873) under
the auspices of the Hongkong Fire Insurance Company, the
establishment of the exchange of Post Office money orders
between Hongkong and India (August 28, 1875 ), the reduction
of postal rates on letters to England (July 1 , 1876 ) and the entry
of Hongkong into the Postal Union on payment of £ 3,150 per
annum (September 21 , 1876 ), and finally the establishment of
a steam laundry (January, 1877) . The Rev. J. Lamont , pastor
of Union Church, collected in Hongkong and forwarded to the
British Museum (April 25 , 1874) a collection of 1,100 different
Hongkong plants, among which there were as many as 90 different
520 CHAPTER XX.
species of Hongkong ferns. The Government also published
(January, 1877) a complete alphabetical catalogue, compiled by
Mr. C. Ford, of the plants in the Public Gardens.
The Chinese community shared in the general progress of
the Colony. Whilst previously the Chinese newspapers of the
Colony were exclusively under foreign management, the Chinese
started (March, 1873 ) a Company, in which no foreigner was
allowed a share, for the purchase of the London Mission type
foundry, and published forthwith in Chinese a newspaper of
their own (Universal Circulating Herald). Another instance of
Chinese enterprise is the attempt made, in July 1873, to run
steam - ferries between Hongkong and Kowloon city, though the
movement was stopped at the time through the action of the
British Consul in Canton , who represented to the Viceroy that
the ferry -boats were merely intended to bring customers from
Hongkong to the Kowloon gambling houses. That Hongkong
had risen in the estimation of China, is evidenced by the fact that
the Imperial Government of China condescended, in December,
1874, to contract a loan of £ 600,000 at 8 per cent. with the
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank and pledged as security for
the loan the whole of the revenues of the Imperial Maritime
Customs.
The obituary of this period includes, among many, the
following most promiment names :-Lady Kennedy, who died in
England (October 1874) highly revered by Hongkong residents
as she had always given a tone of gentleness to the sterner
rule of even the least severe Governor of Hongkong ; F. Douglas
(June, 1874) , for over 12 years Superintendent of the Gaol ;
G. B. Falconer (died in London , August 5, 1875 ) , the founder
of the jewellers' firm of the same name ; D. R. Caldwell ( October
2, 1875 ) , formerly Registrar General and latterly agent and
general adviser to the leading members of the Chinese community
by whom he was greatly trusted and respected ; the Hon .
W. H. Alexander, Registrar of Supreme Court, who died in
Chefoo (February 22 , 1876 ) ; Inspector O'Brien (July 21 , 1876 ) ;
Thomas Green, of the P. & O. Company (August 4, 1876 ) ;
THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR A. E. KENNEDY. 521
A. Dalgarno, of the Ordnance Store Department (September
14, 1876 ) .
When the time came for Sir A. Kennedy's departure,
enthusiastically laudatory addresses were presented to him by