HONGKONG
987.
made on the parties engaged on the preliminary arrangements, the mat-sheds erected for the accommodation of the police having been burnt, and other evidences of an organised opposition having been given, it was deemed advisable to assume full jurisdiction on the 16th April, on which date the flag was hoisted by the Hon. J. H. Stewart Lockhart, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary. Military operations were found necessary to overcome the opposition, and on the 18th April the rebels were completely routed in an action fought at Sheung Tsun, their force numbering some 2,600 men. On the British side there were no fatalities and only one or two slight casualties; on the Chinese side a number were killed and wounded, but the exact figures were not ascertaine 1, those who fell being carried away by their friends. In the Convention it was provided that Kowloon City was to remain Chinese, but it having been established beyond a doubt that the hands of the Chinese officials were by no means clean in respect of the disturbances which occurred on the taking over of the leased area, the Home Government determined to mark their sense of the duplicity of the Chinese in a suitable manner and orders were accordingly issued to the military authorities to scize Kowloon walled city and Shamchun. This was done on the 16th May, 1899, no opposition being encountered at either place. The Hongkong Volunteer Corps took part in the expedition to Kowloon City. Shamchun, the other place seized, is au important town on the river of the same name just beyond the boundary originally agreed upon. Unfortunately it has not been retained, having been restored to the Chinese authorities in November, 1899, and has become a resort for desperate characters. The New Territory under British jurisdiction is being developed by the construction of roads; police stations have been established, and a system of administration by means of village communities organised. The headquarters of the administration are at Taipohu. The railway from Kowloon to Canton, which will pass through the New Territory to Shamchun, will no doubt do much to develop it. The principal islands and their populations are as follows:-Lantao, 7,940; Cheung Chau, 2,734; Lamma, 1,134. The islands to the west of Hongkong contained 1,925; those to the east, 1,169. The Chinese population of the New Territories is estimated at 85,011 Of the islands and islets in the waters of the Colony (exclusive of the above acquisitions) the most important is Stonecutter's Island, formerly known as Wong Chune-chow, opposite to and about three-quarters of a mile from the north-western extremity of the Kowloon peninsula. The island is an irregular ridge about a mile in length, and a little over a quarter of a mile broad; the principal eminences are occupied by batteries and no one is allowed to land without a permit. The Quarantine Station is also located here. After the great typhoon of September, 1874, two or three thousand bodies of the victims found afloat were interred on Stonecutter's Island. Kellet's Island is a small rock near East Point, on which a fort formerly stood, but which has been replaced by a small magazine. Green Island, at the western entrance of the harbour, has been planted with trees and now justifies its name all the year round. A lighthouse has been placed on its south-western extremity. One Tree Island is a tiny rock near the entrance to Aberdeen. A Dynamite Depôt has been erected on it. Aplichau, a considerable island opposite Aberdeen, of which harbour it forms part, has a populous fishing village on its northern shore facing Aberdeen. Lantao and Lamma Islands were brought under British jurisdiction by the Kowloon Convention of 1898. The former has a considerably larger area than Hongkong, but both this island and Lamma are sparsely populated by agriculturists and fishermen.
POPULATION, Garrison, and Defences
A
The total population of the Colony, according to the census taken in January, 1901, numbered 281,782, compared with 221,441 in May, 1891, and 160,402 in 1881. census was taken on November 20th, 1906, and the report gave the total civil popu- lation (exclusive of the New Territories) as 319,803, which included a non-Chinese civil population of 12,415. In addition the army returns showed a strength of 4,537 and the Navy 4,698 making the total population of the Colony 329,038. The returns showed an increase in the civil population of 17,992 (exclusive of New Kowloon and the rest of the New Territories) on the census return of 1901.
The Garrison consists of three companies Royal Garrison Artillery, one company Royal Engineers, one battalion of Infantry, Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, four Indian infantry battalions--two in North China and two at Hongkong; four companies native artillery and one local company native engineers. There is also a Volunteer Corps consisting of one troop of Mounted Infantry, two companies of Garrison Artillery, and one Company of Engineers. On the initiative of H. E. Sir Matthew Nathan, a Volunteer Reserve Association was formed in 1904 composed of British residents over the age of 35.
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