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186
WEI-HAI-WEI
at the ceremony being Consul Hopkins, of Chefoo, and Captain King-Hall, of H.M.S. Narcissus, for Great Britain, and Taotai Yen and Captain Lin, of the Chinese war vessel Foochi, for China.
The leased territory consists of ranges of rugged mountains and rocky hills up to 1,500 feet high, dividing the plains up into valleys and river beds. The island of Port Ed- ward (Liu Kung) is barren and nearly treeless, and is formed by a backbone of hills rising to some 500 feet. The hillsides on the nainland are either barren rock or planted with dwarf pine and scrub oak trees. The valleys are mostly undulating country full of gullies and mountain river beds; the streams are all torrential, and choke up the valleys with sand and debris from the hills. During three-quarters of the year thèse river beds are dry. All the hills are terraced for cultivation as far as possible.
The strata of the mountains are metamorphic, consisting of beds of quartzite, gneiss. crystalline, and limestone, cut across by dykes of volcanic rock and granite. Gold is found in the territory, and has been worked by the Chinese, and silver, tin, lead, and iron are said to exist. Proper boring operations, under European management, for minerals have not yet been undertaken. Good building-stone and a rich non-hydraulic limestone are found. The territory contains some 33 villages, and the population is estimated to be 123,750. There are four small market towns where fairs are held every five days. There is no local industry, but a little rope making, boat building, line making, and stone cutting is done. The Chinese inhabitants are either fishermen or farmers. There is no export trade except in salt fish, which is carried in Chinese junks to Southern China. The import trade is not large, and is also carried on in Chinese junks. It con sists of timber, firewood, and maize from Manchuria, and paper, crockery, sugar, and tobacco from Southern China. The average yearly import of maize is about 50,000 pi- culs, valued at $250,000,
The Government of Wei-hai-wei is administered by a Commissioner appointed under the Wei-hai-wei Order in Council of the 24th July, 1901. Under this Onder the Commissioner is empowered to make ordinances for the administration of the territory. There is a High Court established, in which all jurisdiction, civil and criminal. is vested, subject to an appeal to the Supreme Court in the Colony of Hongkong, District Magistrates' Courts are also provided for. The Commissioner resides on the island of Port Edward and the Assistant Commissioner on the mainland at Mahto. The village communities are administered through their headmen in accordance with Chinese laws and usages, and the people have now entirely acquiesced in the newly- established régime. All purely civil matters are left as much as possible to the village chiefs. There is, perhaps, no place in China occupied by foreigners where labour is so cheap. Wei-hai-wei is now a fairly regular port of call for many China coasting steamers sailing northwards from Shanghai during the summer months, and there is a small steamer subsidised by Government to run all the year carrying mails and passengers between Chefoo and Wei-hai-wei. This enables the public to reach Wei-hei-wei by water via Shanghai and Chefoo at any time of the year. Wei-hai-wei is now the northern naval base of His Majesty's China Squadron, and the Admiralty propose to build a naval hospital on the island. The harbour is well lighted by two lighthouses at the eastern and western entrances. On the mainland are the barracks and quarters of the 1st Chinese Regiment. The climate of Wei-hai-wei is exceptionally good, and the Winter though cold is dry and bracing. A European school has already been established at Wei-hai-wei, and a land and building society, formed in Shanghai, has already erected several commodious European bungalows and a large hotel on the mainland. Both on the mainland and on the island good roads have been made round the coast by the local government for the convenience of foreigners, and there are recreation and parade grounds upkept by the Admiralty and War Office in both places.
The native city of Wei-hai-wei (which lies on the mainland opposite the island of Liu Kung) is a walled town of about 2,000 inhabitants. By the provisions of the Wei- hai-Wei Convention of 1898 this town still remains under the jurisdiction of the Chinese authorities. The town is a poor one, and the greater portion of the enclosed area is not built on, but cultivated for vegetables. The market or fair held in the town three times a month is the largest in the Settlement. A Chinese sub-district deputy magistrate and a military sergeant reside in the town of Wei-hai-wei. These two officers are subordinates of the Prefect of Teng Chou Fa. The settlement of Wei-hai-wei is declared a free port. No custom duties of any kind are collected. By agreement, the Chinese Government is permitted to make use of the bay of Wei-hai-wei for its fleet, so far as is compatible with British interests. Wei-hai-wei was originally strongly fortified by the Chinese. Twelve large forts in all were planned and erected for the Chinese Government by Mr. Von Hanneken. Eight of these forts and all the guns were completely destroyed in the
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