190
NOTES AND QUERIES
in the sun, then assorted, and the whitest selected for fine cloth. A partial bleaching is effected on the fibres before they undergo further division, sometimes by boiling, and at others by pounding on a plank with a mallet. When the cloth is finished it undergoes a process of glazing, which is done by a rude machine most effectually. A sort of bed or tray is laid down firmly in the ground, the inside curved or scalloped, and made very smooth. Upon this the cloth is carefully spread; a small cylinder is laid above, and upon that a stone with a smooth face, having the ends turned upwards. A man mounts this stone, and places one foot on each end, giving it a see-saw motion working the cylinder backwards and forwards with great power, and imparting a fine glaze to the cloth, equal to hot-pressing in European factories.
It is not known to what part of China this description refers. For details of the plant species and practice in West China and Chekiang see A. Hosie, Three years in West China (London, George Philip and son, 2nd Edn., 1897) pp. 73-74.
Hong Kong, 1970.
JAMES HAYES
COACH TOUR OF EASTERN HONG KONG ISLAND
18TH OCTOBER, 1969
Colonial Cemetery, Happy Valley
This is the oldest of the several old cemeteries at Happy Valley. It was opened on 1st February, 1844, covers 23.75 acres and contains 11,680 graves.* There are many old graves and monuments dating from the mid-19th century, some of them scarcely legible. Military and naval graves and monuments, some of them very large, are much in evidence. They record the deaths of officers and men while stationed in Hong Kong or in Far Eastern waters, and on active service during the China Wars of 1856-1860. Unfortunately, there is no register of prominent burials for easy reference, so we shall just have to look around.
* Information provided by the Urban Services Department.
190
NOTES AND QUERIES
in the sun, then assorted, and the whitest selected for fine cloth. A partial bleaching is effected on the fibres before they undergo further division, sometimes by boiling, and at others by pounding on a plank with a mallet. When the cloth is finished it undergoes a process of glazing, which is done by a rude machine most effectually. A sort of bed or tray is laid down firmly in the ground, the inside curved or scalloped, and made very smooth. Upon this the cloth is carefully spread; a small cylinder is laid above, and upon that a stone with a smooth face, having the ends turned upwards. A man mounts this stone, and places one foot on each end, giving it a see-saw motion working the cylinder backwards and forwards with great power, and imparting a fine glaze to the cloth, equal to hot-pressing in European factories."
It is not known to what part of China this description refers. For details of the plant species and practice in West China and Chekiang see A. Hosie, Three years in West China (London, George Philip and son, 2nd Edn., 1897) pp. 73 -74.
Hong Kong, 1970.
JAMES HAYES
COACH TOUR OF EASTERN HONG KONG ISLAND
18TH OCTOBER, 1969
Colonial Cemetery, Happy Valley
This is the oldest of the several old cemeteries at Happy Valley. It was opened on 1st February, 1844, covers 23.75 acres and contains 11,680 graves.* There are many old graves and monu- ments dating from the mid-19th century, some of them scarcely legible. Military and naval graves and monuments, some of them very large, are much in evidence. They record the deaths of officers and men while stationed in Hong Kong or in Far Eastern waters, and on active service during the China Wars of 1856-1860. Unfortunately, there is no register of prominent burials for easy reference, so we shall just have to look around.
* Information provided by the Urban Services Department.
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