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The importance of the north side of the harbour is likely to increase further with the development of railway traffic between Hongkong and Canton, especially when the railway is linked up with that from Canton to Hankow, the construction of which has suffered interruption through the disturbed state of China since the revolution.
Development is also rapidly taking place on the south side of the island which is likely to become a popular residential area in the near future.
The New Territories, which were acquired in order to render the Colony defensible, are mostly composed of mountainous country with a few cultivated plains and valleys and arms of the sea winding among the bill ranges. The scenery is magnificent and reminds one of the parts of North Donegal where sea and bare mountain ranges are similarly entwined.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Hongkong from a European point of view compares very favourably with that of the Straits Settlements in that there is n cool dry winter and a well-marked change of seasons.
But the Hongkong summer, though the temperature rarely exceeds 95 F., is very trying to Europeans on account of the humidity of the atmosphere.
By living on the Peak, at heights from 900 to 1,600 feet, a temperature cooler by 5 or 6 degrees is obtained but at these heights a great deal of fog is experienced which is very unpleasant and is most destructive to clothing and furniture.
From June to September there are frequent typhoons in the China Sea; when one strikes the Colony it causes much loss of life and des- truction of small craft in the surrounding waters. This does not happen more than once in 7 or 8 years on the average, but heavy downpours of rain lasting 2 or 3 days with 3 to 5 inches or more of rain each day occur when the centre of a typhoon passes within two or three hundred miles of the Colony. In 1920 the rainfall was considerably above normal. The total for the year was 107 880 inches as against an average of 84-270 inches for the past 37 years. The greatest fall in one day during 1920 was 8:235 inches on July 19th.
The climate during the winter season from November to March is about as perfect as one could hope for, the temperature varying from 35 to 80° F. There is practically no rainfall during this period, the hours of sunshine often reach 200 in a month, and a cool dry N.E. wind prevails.
In 1920 the highest temperature was 93.1 on the 25th July, the lowest temperature was 45o,1 on January 5th.
HEALTH.
In its early days the Colony had a very unenviable reputation from a health point of view, and the percentage of Europeans who died from malaria in particular was very high. But with the drainage of marshes and the training of streams, the malarial mosquito has been practically
stamped out in the residential parts of the Colony and there is now comparatively little malaria.
When new sites are opened in outlying parts, where measures have not been taken over a wide surrounding area to deal with the mosquito problem, malaria is, however, still a danger, though the use of quinine bas robbed it of some of its terrors.
Apart from malaria there is considerable danger from the sun to any who do not take reasonable care, such as the wearing of sun hats, and deaths from heatstroke are not uncommon in summer.
Plague appears with regularity each spring among the Chinese population, but is practically confined to them.
Typhoid fever is fairly common among Europeans; and minor digestive ailments are a frequent cause of bad health, especially in the case of children.
With reasonable care, and the avoidance of excesses in eating and drinking, the climate must be considered moderately suitable for Europeans. They cannot as a rule, however, remain in the Colony for more than four or five summers in succession without impairing their physical and mental vitality.
All forms of recreation are well provided for. Among those which find many followers and for which numerous clubs exist are:-Boating, Riding, Polo, Swimming. Golf, Tennis, Cricket, Hockey, Football. Bowls, Shooting.
Children can safely remain in the Colony until they are 8 or 9 years old, though if left much in the charge of native servants they are likely to suffer through lack of discipline and proper training. The vigour and general development of Europeans between the ages of 10 and 20 are likely to be impaired by any extended residence in Hongkong.
In 1920 the general death rate was 2119 per 1,000. Among the Chinese community the death rate was 29-78 for 1,000, and among the non-Chinese community, 179 for 1,000.
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS.
Hongkong possesses unrivalled stean communication with all parts of the world. The commercial importance of the Colony lies in its position as a distributing centre for foreign goods entering China and as a clearing house for goods exported from China. Its harbour is one of the finest natural harbours in the world and is frequented by ocean-going steamers of all nations. A large number of coasting steamers ply between Hongkong and the coast ports of China, and an immense number of smaller craft, launches, junks, etc., run to Canton and other places in the Canton Delta, which is one of the most populous and fertile regions of the world.
The total shipping entered and cleared at ports in the Colony during 1920 amounted to 683,497 vessels of 40,122,527 tone. Of these 43,364 vessels of 24,194,022 tons were engaged in Foreign Trade.
A railway runs from Kowloon on the north side of the harbour to Canton, and it is hoped that in time this railway will be linked up with that from Canton to Hankow, now under construction.
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