J 9
The chief sources of this revenue are given in the following table, which shows comparatively the totals of the last three years:--
District. No. of Distilleries Revenue 1913. Revenue 1914. Revenue 1915. Revenue in 1915. Tsun Wan 14 $36,300 43,343 44,244 35 $8 Kwai Chung 2 9,067 28,957 Rest of Mainland including Kowloon City and Sham Shui Po 10 53,000 37,722 47,267 Cheung Chau 5 20,500 13,783 15,363 Tai O 1,432 1,252A considerable quantity of this liquor is exported for Hong-kong consumption.
VII. OPIUM.
During the year 13,917 taels of prepared opium and 516 taels of dross opium were sold; the sales during the ten months of Government control in 1914 and the corresponding months in 1915 were:
1914 1915 Prepared Opium 6,781 taels 11,880 taels Dross Opium 560 taels 404 taelsThe figures for these ten months in 1913 were:— 10,000 taels prepared, 350 taels dross.
VIII.—GENERAL.
Crops.--The first rice crop was everywhere good but in many places the second crop was spoiled by the high winds.
The pineapple crop in the Tsun Wan District was unusually good. Some friction which occurred here in connection with the export of the fruit to Hongkong, was probably due in the first place to the abundance of the crop.
Fishing.-Fishing generally was not good, and trade seems to have suffered in consequence. One record catch, however, was made at Tai O during November, $30,000 worth of Wong Fa being taken in 5 days.
Tai O. The general state of Tai O shows little sign of improvement. There is very little public spirit in the place. A notable instance of this can be seen in the fact that there are two ferry launches running between Tai O and Hongkong daily at the same times, where one would be ample. The community will not