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NEW BOUNDARY LINE.
C. 0.
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Re? Peat & TOT 33
The boundary line indicated on the small scale
map which is attached to the Convention and which was copied
by the leading London papers is the shortest line from sea to
sea that could be found measuring in a direct line on the map
only 11 miles. The actual distance however following the tidal
river from Deep Bay up to Sam Chun and then taking the exist-
ing path up to Starling Inlet head is about 13 miles.
This line cuts the rich valley, in the centre
of which Sham Chun lies, in two, and is therefore open to much
objection. The villages which abound in this valley are linked
together by mutual interests and family ties. They are separa-
ted as far as the river extends by only about 100 feet of a
tidal stream, and from Sam Chun to Starling Inlet by no natural
boundary. They all look to Sam Chun as their central and most
important market town to which they resort to dispose of their
surplus produce and, to purchase imported goods. It seems to me
that much difficulty might arise if villages one side of a ro-
ad or stream were under English rule, and those on the other
under Chinese.
The main industry of the valley moreover is the
cultivation of rice, for which an ample and constant supply of
water is essentially necessary; in dry seasons disputes as to
water rights between English and Chinese villages would ine-
vitably arise and from difficult of settlement.
L+
The
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