12
418
13
(1) In Ceylon, Mauritius, Malta, Cyprus, and other Colonies or possessions of the Crown, which were originally occupied chiefly as Military and Naval Stations, there is a considerable territory; and important and difficult questions frequently arise with respect to land, emigration, and the native communities. But Hongkong has been named "the Gibraltar of the East". This island is only nine (9) miles long, by four (4) wide, at its broadest part. The questions that arise here with regard to China are analogous to those which arise at Gibraltar with regard to Spain. In fact, neither Gibraltar nor Hongkong is a colony in the proper sense of the term. Neither corresponds to either the "Colonia" (or "Plantation") of the Romans, or to the ἀποικία ("Apoikia") of the Greeks. Each resembles rather what the Greeks named an ἐπικράτεια (epikrateia), that is, a stronghold placed so as to command a foreign country. Of course, it will not be forgotten that Hongkong is not only an Imperial Fortress but also an Imperial Emporium (ἐμπόριον, emporion), and that