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in the N. E. corner. My pilot not being acquainted with the channel, I got a fisherman's boat to go up with one of the Chinamen I had on board, to see if he could recognise his property. He shortly returned on board, saying his boat was there, and that the other boats were pirates. I immediately stood in under easy steam, when the pirates seeing my intention, made sail, and ran through the channel towards Wanchowchow (Stonecutters). I fired a few shots at them, but they soon got under the cover of the land. Then sending my boats after them, and running round outside the Island. I had the satisfaction of driving them on shore, and destroying five, as well as liberating two market-boats with several passengers who had been in confinement for several days.
Three captured men are sworn to by one of the owners of the boats, and I have sent them in irons to Hong Kong.
These piratical boats had all the rebel flag flying and fired upon our boats, without however doing any damage.
Ma Wan ("Horse Bay"). This island is low-lying, although the geological structure is the same as Tsingyi and Lantau. The east coast has a fine bay, almost unapproachable for rocks. The inhabitants are mostly Hakka. One of the Customs stations built for the so-called "Blockade of Hong Kong" during the 1870s and 1880s still stands on this island; it is now used as a school.
The waters around Ma Wan are known as Kapshuimun ("Rushing Water Channel"). The name is apt since Kapshuimun has about the swiftest tiderip of any channel in Hong Kong. It is 25 fathoms deep. It is the track of all steamers from Hong Kong going to and from the Delta. Opposite Ma Wan, on the south shore of Kapshuimun, that is, on the northernmost tip of Lantau, are the only wolframite mines in the islands.
Lantau. This is our biggest island, two and a half times the size of Hong Kong Island. Lantau Peak is the highest peak in the Ladrones 3061 feet.
The northern end is almost deserted except for a few tiny hamlets round Yam O (“Hidden Haven"), a perfect smugglers'
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in the N. E. corner. My pilot not being acquainted with the channel, I got a fisherman's boat to go up with one of the Chinamen I had on board, to see if he could recognise his property. He shortly returned on board, saying his boat was there, and that the other boats were pirates. I immediately stood in under easy steam, when the pirates seeing my intention, made sail, and ran through the channel towards Wanchowchow (Stonecutters). I fired a few shots at them, but they soon got under the cover of the land. Then sending my boats after them, and running round outside the Island. I had the satisfaction of driving them on shore, and destroying five, as well as liberating two market-boats with several passengers who had been in confinement for several days.
Three captured men are sworn to by one of the owners of the boats, and I have sent them in irons to Hong Kong.
These piratical boats had all the rebel flag flying and fired upon our boats, without however doing any damage.
Ma Wan ("Horse Bay"). This island is lowlying, although the geological structure is the same as Tsingyi and Lantau. The east coast has a fine bay, almost unapproachable for rocks. The inhabitants are mostly Hakka. One of the Customs stations built for the so-called "Blockade of Hong Kong" during the 1870s and 1880s still stands on this island; it is now used as a school.
The waters around Ma Wan are known as Kapshuimun ("Rushing Water Channel"). The name is apt since Kapshuimun has about the swiftest tiderip of any channel in Hong Kong. It is 25 fathoms deep. It is the track of all steamers from Hong Kong going to and from the Delta. Opposite Ma Wan, on the south shore of Kapshuimun, that is, on the northernmost tip of Lantau, are the only wolframite mines in the islands.
Lantau. This is our biggest island, two and a half times the size of Hong Kong Island. Lantau Peak is the highest peak in the Ladrones 3061 feet.
The northern end is almost deserted except for a few tiny hamlets round Yam O (“Hidden Haven"), a perfect smugglers'
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