286
is on the title and the right to turn out cattle liable to cease at any time; further, as the hill is practically bare of pasture and is to a very great extent thickly wooded, this right appears to be of little value, and, as far as I am aware, has never been exercised; further, a large portion of the land referred to in the letter of Messrs Belilios and Humphreys dated 16th December, lying between this lot and Kowloon City, is within the catchment area of the Kowloon water supply, and cattle would not be allowed within such area.
5. As regards the value of this property, the following information has been obtained from the Land Office records. In 1868 the Eastern portion having an area of 4 acres, 1 rood, 36 perches, was purchased for the sum of $1,000. In 1869 the remainder or western portion was purchased for $1,300. In 1870 the eastern portion again changed hands for $200 at public auction, and subsequently for $1,100, so that up to 1876 there appears to have been a fair value for the whole of the lot.
In 1889 Messrs Belilios and Humphreys purchased the lot for $60,000. Such a price is evidently a "fancy price".
6. On enquiry into the circumstances which induced the present owners to pay such a price, Mr. Belilios informed me that the purchase of Kowloon Inland Lot 8394 immediately to the west, retained by the present owners, large holders of shares in the Hongkong & Whampoa Dock Co., was...