PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
61
Reference :-
C.O. 882
5
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
Const.
36
ALBUM III.
(Views taken by Corporal Whitewood, R.E., under the Superintendence of Lieutenant Rundall, R.E.)
1. Members of the Commission.
2. Officers, H.M.8. "Plover."
3. Crew, H.M.S." Plover."
4. Panorama of Kowloon City.
5. Kowloon City.
6. Yung Shu Au Village, Starling Inlet.
7. Sha Tau Village, Mire Bay.
8. Ban Wai Village, Lungkwatt'au district.
9. Tai Wo Valley, near Taipó Hű.
10. Lo Ta'ün Valley, in Lungkwatt'au district.
11. Lam Te'un Platean.
12. Long Valley, from Lin Au Gap, looking
North. (See No. 17.)
13. Kak Tin Valley, near Sha T'in.
14. Sha Tin Creek.
15. Sha Tin Village.
16. Bridge Valley, near Taipó Hű.
17. Southern end, Long Valley, near Lin Au,
looking West. (See No. 12.)
18. Nam Wai, near Sai Kung.
19. Sai Kung.
20. Pak Sha Wán, near Sai Kung.
21. Ts'un Wan.
22. Ts'ün Wan Hamlet.
23. Castle Peak Valley.
24. Customs Station in Island of Ch'eung Chau.
25. Shap Long Village, Island of Lantao.
26. Wharf at Sham Chun.
27. Village of Lok Tei Tong, east coast of
Island of Lantao.
28. Bost dwellings and Joss House, Island of
Ch'eung Chan.
REPORT.
The territory, including the islands, which China has agreed to lease to Great Britain under the Convention signed at Peking on the 9th June last (Appendix I.), appertains to the district of San On in the province of Kwong-tung, and is indicated generally on Map I., which is a copy of the map attached to the Convention.
MAPS AND PHOTOGRAPHS.
In order to facilitate consideration of this territory, a map of it has been specially prepared by Mr. Ormsby, Director of Public Works, Hong Kong (Map II.), based on the excellent map made by Bishop Volontieri in 1866, when a missionary of the Propa- ganda in San On (Map III.), and a series of photographic views has been taken, unfor- tunately in weather not always favourable for the photographer, by Corporal White wood, R.E., under the superintendence of Lieut. Kundall, R.E., and by Mr. Xavier, Surveyor in the Public Works Department, Hong Kong. These maps and photo- graphs, to the latter of which have been added a few taken by Afong and Mee Cheung, photographers, Hong Kong, are attached.*
ARRA.
The area of the territory as shown on Map I. is as follows:-
Mainland Islands
8q. miles.
286 =
90
Acres, 183,040
376
57,600
240,640
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The new territory is mountainous, with rich, extensive, cultivated valleys, and pos- sesses a coast line deeply indented by bays.
The coast to the south and east is bold and rugged, with deep water close up to the cliffs, and numerous land-locked bays, affording good anchorages, which render them safe in all kinds of weather. The heads of the inlets of Mirs Bay, such as Starling Inlet, Taipó Hü Bay, and Tide Cove, or Sha Tin Inlet, are shallow, the tide at low water leaving a mile or more of sand or mud exposed. Deep Bay in the west is extremely shallow, and at low tide miles of mud can be seen. This bay has, however, a deep channel, which is well known to native boatmen. No proper survey of the bay has ever been made. This should be taken in hand as soon as possible; and in the meantime the deep channel should be properly marked, in order to facilitate the navigation of these waters.
Not reproduced.
87
A report on the harbours in Mirs Bay, with which Commander De Horsey, of Harbours. H.M.S. Plover, kindly furnished me, will be found in Appendix No. 1a.
The general trend of the mountain system is north-east and south-west. There Mountain are two main ranges the southern range and the northern range. The southern range system. extends from Sharp Peak, which forms the south point of Mirs Bay, to the peaks oppo- site Stonecutters Island, and may be regarded as ending in the mountains of the island of Lantao. The most noticeable peaks in this range are Sharp Peak, 1,540 feet high, with one spur to the north, 1,830 feet high, and another spur running into Tolo harbour, ending in the magnificent twin peaks named on English maps the Hunchback Hills, and called by the Chinese "Saddle Mountain," with a height of 2,305 feet; peaks 1,895, 1,440, and 1,240 feet high immediately to the north of Kowloon city, ending in a peak 1,600 feet high to the north of Taikoktsui. The southern range here drops rapidly into Hong Kong harbour, opposite Stonecutters Island, but re-appears in the island of Lantao, where it reaches an elevation of 3,050 feet near the west end of the island.
The northern range extends from Crooked Harbour in the north of Mirs Bay to Castle Peak Bay and the southern point of Deep Bay. It commences with elevations of 1,655 feet, 1,500 feet, and 1,200 feet, and in the Pat Sin Ling, or Eight Peak Mountain, north of Tolo Harbour, attains to a height of 1,857 feet. From Tolo Harbour it trends south-west, with elevations varying from 1,300 to 1,500 feet, until it reaches its highest point in the splendid range of Taimò Shán, which rises to a height of 3,000 feet. It then decreases in elevation in the direction of Castle Peak, which is 1,806 feet high, but has a lower spur to the north, forming the southern arm of Deep Bay, in which there are two peaks rising to an elevation of 1,200 feat.
Besides these two main ranges, there are cross ranges of lesser altitude, which divide the watershed between Mirs Bay and Deep Bay with low hills in some of the valleys.
The heights of the mountains are taken from the map sketched by Lieutenant E. G. Young, R.E., which gives a clear idea of the mountain system of the new territory. (Map. IV.)
WATERSHEDS.
The watersheds of the territory being as a rule close to the east and south coasta, the more extensive valleys and plains lie to the west and north, and drain into Deep Bay. Such are the valleys of which the town of Sham Chun is the centre, and the valleys and plains of Pat Heung and Shap Pat Heung, lying to the north-west of the range of Taimò Shán.
A remarkable feature in the Shap Pat Heung plains is the abrupt and clearly-defined line between hill and plain. The plain extends from the shores of Deep Bay for some miles into the interior, never reaching an elevation of more than 10 or 15 feet above high water mark, but from this point the hills rise abruptly at an angle of 15 to 20 degrees.
RIVER SYSTEM.
The river system, like the mountain system, is divided into two sections--a northern and a southern. The chief river of the northern section and the largest in the territory is the Sham Chun river,* which has three branches or tributaries, a northern, an eastern and a southern. The northern branch rises in the mountains on the borders of the Tung Kun and San On districts, and, flowing in a south-westerly direction, joins the main river to the west of Sham Chun; the eastern branch rises in the low hills west of Starling Inlet, and flows in a westerly direction, joining the main river to the cast of Sham Chun; the southern branch has its source in Kau Lung Hang, to the north of Taipó Hü, and flows in a north-westerly direction, falling into the main river a mile below Sham Chun. All these branches are good-sized mountain streams, and most valuable as irrigators of the cultivated land through which they flow. They are, how- ever, of no value as highways of trade, as they are too shallow to be navigated by even small craft. The Sham Chun river, from the town of Sham Chun to its mouth, is at high tide from 60 to 80 feet wide, has a depth of 7 to 12 feet, and is navigable for junks and launches. The bar at its mouth is about 6 or 7 feet in depth, and is reported at low tide to be only 3 feet in depth.
The Sham Chun river system is separated from the Un-Long and Kam Tin, or southern river system, by the Kai Kung Tau range of mountains. The t'n-Long river rises in the northern slope of the Taimo Shán range, and, flowing in a northerly direc tion, empties itself into Deep Bay. The Kam Tin river, which has its source at the foot of Taimò Shán, flows in a north-westerly direction, joining the Un-Long river at the
• See Photographs, Album I., Nos. 32, 36.