Directory_and_Chronicle_1891 — Page 591

HONGKONG

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Day, 1878, a fire broke out in the Central District of Victoria which destroyed 368 houses and entailed enormous loss on the community. On Sir John's departure Sir William (then Mr.) Marsh, the Colonial Secretary, assumed the Government, and affairs proceeded placidly until the arrival, in March, 1883, of Sir George Bowen. His advent was the signal for great activity in the prosecution of public works, amongst others being the Tytam Waterworks, the Victoria College, the Lunatic Asylum, and the enlargement of the Government Civil Hospital. Sir George Bowen left Hongkong on the 19th December, 1885, and another interregnum followed. Mr. Marsh administered the government until April, 1887, when he retired from the service, and Major-General Cameron assumed the reins until the arrival of Governor Sir William Des Voeux in October of the same year. The Colony meantime has steadily progressed, though naturally with some fluctuations in its prosperity, until in 1889, when, writing to the Secretary of State on its condition and prospects, Sir William Des Voeux was able to remark, with justifiable satisfaction:- "It may be doubted whether the evidences of material and moral achievement, presented as it were in a focus, make anywhere a more forcible appeal to eye and imagination, and whether any other spot on the earth is thus more likely to excite or much more fully justifies pride in the name of Englishman."

The following is a list of those who have administered the Government from the date on which the Island was erected into a Colony:

1843 Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart, G.C.B. 1844 Sir John Francis Davis, Bart., K.C.B. 1848 Samuel George Bonham, c.B. 1851 Major-General W. Jervois (Lt.-Governor) 1851 Sir S. George Bonham, Bart., K.C.B. 1852 John Bowring, LL.D. (Acting) 1853 Sir George Bonham, Bart., K.C.B. 1854 Sir John Bowring, LL.D. 1854 Lieut.-Colonel Wm. Caine (Lt.-Governor) 1855 Sir John Bowring, Knight, LL.D. 1859 Colonel Caine (Lieut.-Governor) 1839 Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, Knight 1862 William Thomas Mercer (Acting) 1864 Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, Knight 1865 William Thomas Mercer (Acting)

1866 Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, Knt., C.B. 1870 Mj.-Gl. H. W. Whitfeild (Lt.-Governor) 1871 Sir Richard G. MacDonnell, к.C.M.G., C.B. 1872 Sir Arthur E. Kennedy, K.C.M.G., C.B. 1875 John Gardiner Austin (Administrator) 1876 Sir Arthur E. Kennedy, K.C.M.G., C.B. 1877 Sir John Pope Hennessy, K.C.M.G. 1882 Wm. Hy. Marsh, c.M.G. (Administrator) 1883 Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.c.M.G. 1885 Wm. Hy. Marsh, c.M.G. (Administrator) 1887 Mjr.-Gen. W. G. Cameron, c.B. (Adminis.) 1887 Sir George William Des Voeux, K.C.M.G. 1890 Francis Fleming, c.m.o. (Administrator) 1890 Sir George William Des Vœux, K.C.M.G,

The Government is administered by a Governor, aided by an Executive Council of five officials. The Legislative Council is presided over by the Governor, and 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 but a British subject, are appointed by the Government.

FINANCES.

The finances of the Colony have for several years gone on improving, and the estimated revenue for 1891 was $1,952,098, or including premium on land sales $2,513,727, and the ordinary expenditure $1,663,420. The Colony has a small public debt, a loan of £200,000 having been contracted in 1886, of which about £20,000 has been repaid.

The annual rateable value of the city of Victoria is $3,342,475, and that of the various villages about $325,000.

DESCRIPTION.

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. The only valleys worthy of the name are those of Wong-nai Chung and Little Heungkong, both of which are remark- ably beautiful and well wooded, being in fact the only parts where any considerable arborescent vegetation was formerly to be found. The island is well watered by numerous streams, many of which are perennial. The city of Victoria and the suburbs are supplied with water from the Pokfolum and Tytam reservoirs. The former, constructed in 1866-69, has a storage capacity of seventy-four million gallons, while the Tytam reservoir, constructed in 1883-88, has an area of about 29 acres and a storage capacity of about four hundred million gallons. From the Tytam 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 and nearly four miles in length, 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 is a favourite resort of pedestrians.