Directory_and_Chronicle_1890 — Page 410

HONGKONG.

This, the most eastern of British possessions, is situate off the coast of the Kwangtung province, at the mouth of the Canton river. It is distant about 40 miles from Macao and 90 from Canton, and lies between 22 deg. 9 min. and 22 deg. 1 min. N. lat. and 114 deg. 5 min. and 114 deg. 18 min. E. long. The name of the island (Heung Kong) signifies Good Harbour. Hongkong is a Crown Colony and was ceded to Great Britain by the Chinese Government in 1841. The Government is admi- nistered by a Governor, aided by an Executive Council of five officials. The Legis- lative Council is presided over by the Governor, aud is composed of the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Surveyor-General, the Registrar-General, and one other official, and five unofficial members, one of whom is elected by the Chamber of Commerce and another by the Justices of the Peace. The other three, one of whom must be a Chinaman, are appointed by the Government.

The island is about 11 miles long and from 2 to 5 broad; its circumference is about 27 miles. It consists of a broken ridge of lofty hills, with few valleys of any extent and scarcely any ground available for cultivation. It is well watered by numerous streams, many of which are perennial, and from the waterworks at Tytam and Pokfolum water of excellent quality is supplied to all parts of the city of Victoria. Until November, 1888, the city was solely dependent on the Pokfolum supply, but in that month the Tytam supply was turned on. The Tytam reservoir has an area of about 29 acres and a storage capacity of about four hundred million gallons. From the reservoir the water is conveyed into town by means of a tunnel a mile and one-third in length and a conduit along the hillside some 400 feet above the sea level, on which a fine road-called the Bowen Road-has been formed, which commands. the most charming views of the city and the eastern district, and which has become the favourite resort of pedestrians.

The harbour of Hongkong is one of the finest and most beautiful in the world, having an area of ten square miles, and, with its diversified scenery and varied ship- ping, presents an animated and imposing spectacle. It consists of the sheet of water between the island and the mainland, and is enclosed on all sides by lofty hills, formerly destitute of foliage, except where trees have been planted near the city, but the slopes are gradually becoming clothed with young forests, the result of the afforestation scheme of the Government. The City of Victoria is magnificently situated, the houses, many of them large and handsome, rising, tier upon tier, from the water's edge to a height of several hundred feet on the face of the Peak, while many bungalows are visible on the very summit of the hills. Seen from the water at night, when lamps twinkle among the trees and houses, the city, spreading along the shore for upwards of four miles, affords a sight not to be forgotten.

Nor on landing are the favourable impressions of the stranger dissipated. The city is fairly well built, the roads and streets are for the most part admirably made and kept, the Public Gardens almost unrivalled for their beauty, and many of the thoroughfares delightfully shaded with well grown trees. A fine bronze statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of the Colony 1872-6, erected by public subscripr tion, stands in the Botanic Gardens. It was unveiled in November, 1887, by Governo-

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