HONG KONG BEFORE THE BRITISH
179
Sao, and her confederate, Cheung Pao Tsai, who equipped a fleet of foreign-style ships and held off an attack of government ships for a week in Tung Ch'ung harbour. Another is about a pirate called Wang whose treasure remains hidden in an inaccessible cliff in the most westerly of the Lema or Tam Kon Shan group of islands.
A final word must be said about the Hakkas. Their advent has certainly been the most important modern development in the history of the population. Many families who arrived just after the evacuation are now indistinguishable from the Punti since they talk and dress like them. The later arrivals have, however a distinctive dress and several different sub-dialects of the language. They tend more and more to encroach on the land of the Punti. Hong Kong Island, which was originally owned by the Tang clan, was found by the British almost entirely inhabited by Hakkas, who paid no rent and as far as is known received themselves the compensation for some of the land. Lantao Island which has been recently depopulated owing to malaria is gradually being filled up with Hakka squatters. The only part of our region which seems immune from their encroachment is the belt of fertile land chiefly owned by the Tang clan in which the history of the Chinese population of our region apparently began.
HONG KONG BEFORE THE BRITISH
179
Sao, and her confederate, Cheung Pao Tsai, who equipped a fleet of foreign-style ships and held off an attack of government ships for a week in Tung Ch'ung harbour. Another is about a pirate called Wang whose treasure remains hidden in an inaccessible cliff in the most westerly of the Lema or Tam Kon Shan group of islands.
A final word must be said about the Hakkas. Their advent has certainly been the most important modern development in the history of the population. Many families who arrived just after the evacuation are now indistinguishable from the Punti since they talk and dress like them. The later arrivals have, however, a distinctive dress and several different sub-dialects of the language. They tend more and more to encroach on the land of the Punti. Hong Kong Island, which was originally owned by the Tang clan, was found by the British almost entirely inhabited by Hakkas, who paid no rent and as far as is known received themselves the compensation for some of the land. Lantao Island which has been recently depopulated owing to malaria is gradually being filled up with Hakka squatters. The only part of our region which seems immune from their encroachment is the belt of fertile land chiefly owned by the Tang clan in which the history of the Chinese population of our region apparently began.
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