Directory_and_Chronicle_1901 — Page 793

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HONGKONG

raised in 1893. The public debt now stands at £341,800, repayment of which is provided for by a sinking fund.

The annual rateable value of the city of Victoria is $1,996,585, that of Kowloon (not including the New Territory) $504,702, and that of the various villages on the sland and the Hill District $355,164.

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 Hongkong, 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 weil watered by numerous streams, many of which are perennial. The city and suburbs are supplied with water from the Pokfolum, Tytam, and Wong-nai Chung reservoirs. The first-named, constructed in 1866-69, has a storage capacity of sixty-eight million gallons, while the Tytam reservoir, constructed in 1883-88, and extended in 1896, has an area of about 29 acres and a storage capacity of about three hundred and ninety 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 100 feet above the sea level and nearly four miles in length, on which a tine 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. In many parts the conduit is carried over the ravines and rocks by ornamental stone bridges, one of which, above Wanchai, has twenty-three arches. The Wong-wai Chung reservoir, completed in 1899, has a capacity of twenty-seven million gallons.

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The natural productions of the Colony are few and unimportant. There is little land suitable for tillage, and nothing is grown but a little rice and some vegetables near the outlying villages. There are large granite quarries, both on the island and in Kowloon, and there is a small export of this stone. A bed of fire clay exists at Deep Water Bay, and bricks and earthenware pipes are manufactured from it. The forests now growing up and in course of being planted may one day become a source of

revenue.

The approaches to the port are fairly well lighted. A lighthouse on Green Island lights the western entrance of the harbour, the light being a fixed dioptric one of the fourth order, visible at a distance of fourtcer: miles, about to be changed for a better one; and the eastern approach is indicated by a group flashing dioptric light of the first order, visible at a distance of twenty-two miles, erected on Waglan Island, while a smaller light on Cape Collinson assists navigators to make the Ly-ee-mùn Pass. A lighthouse on Gap Rock, about thirty miles to the south, was completed and first displayed its beacon on the 1st April, 1892; it is connected with the port by a cable, and the approach of vessels is signalled from it to the Post Office.

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 shipping, 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, 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 over four hundred feet on the face of the Peak, while many buildings 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 or lessened. The city is fairly well built, the roads and streets are for the most part admirably made and kept, and many of the thoroughfares delightfully shaded with well grown trees. The European business quarter occupies the middle of the city, from Pottinger Street to the Naval Yard, but with the exception of this limited area almost all the lower levels, especially the Western District, are covered by a dense mass of Chinese shops and tenements. The Botanic Gardens are situated just above Government House, and are beautifully laid out in terraces, slopes, and walks, with parterres of flowers. A handsome fountain adorns the second terrace, around which the European children and their amahs resort daily. There is a band stand, presented by the Parsee community, some aviaries, orchid houses, and ferneries, and seats are provided in every spot where a view is obtainable or shade afforded by the varied foliage.

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