Directory_and_Chronicle_1906 — Page 1055

892

HONGKONG

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, when sufficiently extensive, from the periodical thinnings.

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 fourteen miles. It is proposed to replace this light by the one now at Cape D'Aguilar which has been idle for nearly eight years. 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 island 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 readily 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 tastefully laid out in terraces, slopes, and walks, with parterres of flowers. A handsome fountain adorns the second terrace, around which many European children and their amahs resort daily. There is a band stand, presented by the Parsee community (but never now occupied by a band), 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. A fine bronze statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of the Colony 1872-6, erected by public subscription, stands above the second terrace looking down on the fountain. It was unveiled in November, 1887, by Governor Sir William Des Voeux. The chief public building is the City Hall, erected in 1866-9 by subscription; it contains an elegant theatre, numerous large rooms used for balls and public meetings (in one of which known as St. George's Hall, is a fine portrait of the late Queen Victoria, presented by Sir Thomas Jackson, Bart., in 1900), an excellent and valuable Library, and a Museum gradually increasing in importance. In front of the main entrance is a large fountain presented in August, 1864, by Mr. Johm Dent, a former merchant of the Colony. Eastward of the City Hall is a fine open space or lung in the shape of the Parade Ground south of the road and the Cricket Ground on the north.. The latter is furnished with a neat Pavilion, and the turf is kept in perfect order. The Government Offices, Supreme Court House, and Post Office are very plain and most inadequate edifices, but new Law Courts are in course of erection, and a new Post Office on a site with frontages on the Praya, Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road is now being built. A fine bronze statue of the Duke of Connaught, presented by Sir C. P. Chater to the Colony, occupies a site in front of the new Law Courts and was unveiled by Sir William Gascoigne on the 5th July, 1902. Government House occupies a commanding situation, in picturesque grounds pleasingly laid out, in the centre of the city. Victoria Gaol is a large and massive structure, with its main entrance from Arbuthnot Road. The Police Barracks and Central Station adjoin the Gaol, as does the Magistracy, a small and inconvenient structure. The Police Force numbers over 921, of whom 133 are Europeans, 367 Indians, and 421 Chinese. A Reformatory was built and opened in 1900 at Causeway Bay, the cost of erection being borne by