10. The total civil population of the Colony is estimated to exceed 900,000, of which some 400,000 reside in the City of Victoria, 300,000 in the town of Kowloon, over 100,000 on boats in the waters of the Colony and the remainder in villages.
11. There are over 20,000 local boats registered at the Harbour Office, the occupants of each of which vary in number from four to forty according to the size and character of the craft. The Harbour Authorities believe the population to be 150,000 and certainly 100,000 cannot be an overestimate.
12. Of the total population over 97 per cent are Chinese. According to the Census Report one third of the whole were born in the Colony. The remainder are mostly those who have come from China attracted by the facilities offered for employment. Many return to their native towns or villages when too ill or too old for labour. Through this exodus the death rate in the Colony is considerably lower than it otherwise would be.
13. The masses are working people belonging to what is commonly described as the coolie class. The Chinese of the upper classes, many of whom have received a western education, are mostly engaged in commerce but there are among them a number of professional men including both lawyers and doctors.
Housing Conditions.
14. The town plans of Victoria and Kowloon are widely different: the former may be described as old-fashioned and irregular, the latter as modern and regular.
15. The site on which Victoria stands is a narrow strip of land 4 miles long by 1/5th to 2/5ths of a mile broad lying at the northern foot of the mountain and separating it from the sea. The total area of available space is about one square mile or 1/32nd of that of the whole island. Limited in front by the sea and behind by the steep slopes of the mountain there remains hardly an inch of space which has not been occupied for one purpose or another.
16. That portion of the town where the working classes reside and described in the Census Report as 'Health Districts 4, 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 8 (restricted), 9, and 10A (restricted), forming the lower part of the town fronting on Victoria Harbour' has an area of roughly 200 acres and in this space nearly 200,000 individuals find accommodation giving a density of approximately 1,000 per acre.
17. The conformation of the site with its rapid rise of land near the sea-shore led in the early days to the erection of houses on the narrow strip of land near the harbour and extending a little way up the lower slopes of the mountain, the houses being