East Monsoon blows from November until April and during this period the weather is dry and cool and invigorating. From May until October, the season of the South West Monsoon, the air is highly charged with moisture and the climate is hot, muggy and enervating. July, August, and September are marked by atmospheric disturbances which now and then culminate in typhoons or cyclones accompanied by blinding sheets of rain.
6. The mean annual temperature is 72°F. During the summer months the average temperature is 87°F, and there is little variation throughout the twenty-four hours. Situated on the north side of the Island the City of Victoria gets all the heat and moisture of the South West Monsoon but not the breeze, which is cut off by the mountains behind the town. During the winter months the range of temperature is from 70°F. to 45°F. with an average 66°F. necessitating for comfort the wearing of warm clothes and the provision of fires in the houses. Frost is practically unknown.
7. The average yearly rainfall is 85.72 inches. As might be expected most of the rain falls in the summer months.
Population and its distribution.
8. Hong Kong, which depends for its prosperity on its trade with China, has three-fourths of its population concentrated in the cities of Victoria and Kowloon which face each other across Victoria Harbour, a stretch of water almost a mile wide at the narrowest point.
9. With regard to numbers, except in census years, there are no accurate statistical figures, the great movement to and from the Colony and the facility with which the border is crossed preventing accurate checking. Hong Kong being the principal entrepôt for South China and its harbour one of the busiest in the world, every day on an average 7,000 to 8,000 individuals pass to and from China by river steamer or by rail and there are others who arrive and depart by junks or smaller vessels. During times of political unrest in China many thousands from the mainland sojourn in the Colony, some of whom return to their homes when conditions are more settled, others remaining attracted by the opportunities offered for employment.
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.