Directory_and_Chronicle_1845 — Page 221

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

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shelter that this harbor affords, and it is one of the best on this coast the Chinese have docks for building and repairing their largest junks. The access and egress are easy; in the outer harbor there is good holding ground, and unless vessels are badly found in ground tackle, they will ride out almost any gale. In the inner harbor, capable of containing from 60 to 100 vessels, there is little or no swell, and the houses are built close to the beach. Fresh water and supplies of every description may also be had of the best quality and cheap. The rise and fall of the tide from one day's observation on the full moon in September, was fourteen feet and a half; at this period, however, the night tides exceed the day by two feet. The change in the depth, in all probability, three days after full and change would exceed sixteen feet. This would be of great importance to vessels requiring repair, particularly as sites for docks, and ample materials for making them, are to be found upon the island of Kúláng seu, as well as in other parts of the harbor.

The City of Amoy.

This derives its name from the island on which it is situated; the city stands in latitude 24° 31′07′′ N., and in longitude 118° 03′ 38′′ E. The following notices werew ritten by one of the missionaries in Amoy.

Since the war with England, this city has secured some little importance in the estimation of merchants as a place of trade, and of Christians as an opening for the ingress of the gospel into the interior of this part of the Celestial Empire. The public will doubtless, for these reasons, feel some interest in any items of information proceeding from this city. It is the object of the present communica- tion to furnish, if possible, some additional facts to those already known respecting Amoy and the island upon which it is built.

The position of this city gives it many advantages in a commercial point of view. It is conveniently situated for trading with many of the important cities and villages of the Fuhkien province in which it lies. Your readers no doubt know that the city is not built on the main land but on an island of the same name, which is separated from the continent by a channel of one or two miles in breadth. The island is about 35 miles in circuit or 10 miles across. It is somewhat circular in form. The southern and western portions are very much broken by a range of granite hills, which extends along the coast, receding at intervals from the sea and leaving small but beautiful.

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