[ { "id": 204529, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1963", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1963", "content_text": "We are especially grateful to Mr. Hugh Gibb for making available to us his magnificent films in which he has recorded so vividly certain ancient rites and customs of the East. These are apt to disappear only too rapidly and we look forward to further contributions from Mr. Gibb's interpretative filming. We are no less appreciative of the outstanding work of Mr. F. A. Nixon and his fine colour slides of the flowers and plants of Hong Kong so ably interpreted to us by Miss Bek-To Chiu. Two series of his slides have been shown in 1961 and 1962; another will be shown in April 1963. This splendid collection now includes about 400 colour slides of such importance that your Council have been giving consideration to the possibility of their publication in a comprehensive and illustrated collection of the flora of Hong Kong. Nothing of equal importance has been produced in the Colony since the appearance of Flora Hongkongensis by George Bentham in 1861. It would be in accord with the tradition of the Hong Kong Branch of the Society, which was responsible for the acquisition for the Colony of the Botanic Gardens, to take advantage of the unique work of Mr. Nixon and Miss Bek-To Chiu to publish a collection worthy of the Colony. The enterprise, however, would be costly and could be undertaken only if funds could be found for the purpose. We would commend this project to the friends of the Society and of the Colony both here and abroad.\n\nThe first two volumes of the Journal of the Society, produced by the Editorial Board under the able leadership of Mr. Cranmer-Byng, have maintained a high standard of scholarship and of interest. They have already gained a standing amongst the Journals of other learned societies in different parts of the world and are likely to be in increasing demand both in exchange for similar journals and for outright purchase. The receipts for the sale of journals last year amounted to $911.75 but as they are getting better known it is likely that stocks of back numbers will gradually be sold and those left will correspondingly be of greater value. The Journal is now on sale at HK$12 or US$2.50 or 16/- sterling. Members who now receive a free copy for their annual subscription of $20 are receiving good value for their money.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1963.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206196, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1971", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1971", "content_text": "TEXT OF A LETTER SENT TO THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE SUBJECT OF A NEW CITY MUSEUM FOR HONG KONG.\n\n24th May, 1971.\n\nDear Sir,\n\nA NEW CITY MUSEUM\n\nAt a meeting of the Council of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society held earlier this year, the question was raised as to whether we, as the executive committee of a Hong Kong learned society, could, with advantage to all concerned, formulate our views on the above-mentioned subject which is exercising the minds of many residents of this Colony at the present moment.\n\nThe members of the committee were unanimously of the opinion that we should do this, firstly because the main purpose in founding our Society as long ago as 1847 was to foster the preservation, and to encourage the study, of all matters concerning the history of this part of Asia; and secondly and more specifically because in the inaugural address of our first President, Governor Sir John Davis, he urged the adoption by the young Society of two practical aims in addition to the lecture and discussion programmes usually adopted by learned societies. His suggested aims were the establishment in Hong Kong (a) of Botanic Gardens, and (b) of a City Museum. A brief statement concerning what was accomplished towards achieving these aims about a century and a quarter ago was recently made by Dr. J. R. Jones, the past President of this Branch of the Society, in his letter published in the South China Morning Post on Friday, 18th December, 1970, under the title of \"Sir John Davis, and Hong Kong's First Museum\".\n\nAfter some discussion which was purposely confined to generalities, and did not extend to the consideration of details, it was unanimously decided that we should support the proposal that the present museum should be re-organized and that the opportunity should then be taken of re-housing it in a new and specially designed building situated on a site chosen for its suitability and adaptability rather than for reasons of expediency.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1971.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206462, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "The other accommodation problem that required for our meetings you will remember I touched upon briefly in my report last year. The problem still exists but in a more intensified form, and there is no doubt in my own mind that Dr. Jones's oft-reiterated solution-premises of our own — is the ideal one.\n\nBut the cost of that is, at the present moment and in the near foreseeable future, far beyond our financial means.\n\nBut the recent proposal concerning a HONG KONG ARTS CENTRE may well be a practicable solution, and your Council has already taken steps to associate itself actively with this well worth-while proposal. In my view it will be one of the most important subjects on the agendas of Council meetings during the forthcoming year.\n\nCommunity Problems. It is a very controversial point as to how well advised the executive committee of an organization such as ours would be in becoming actively or even theoretically involved in general matters of community interest.\n\nThere is one field however in which your Council felt no doubt about the direction in which its duty lay, and that was in the consideration of the problem of a CITY MUSEUM which was exercising the minds of many resident members of our community earlier last year.\n\nThe members of your Council present at the meeting when this subject was discussed, were unanimously of the opinion that we could and should discuss the subject in council. For this decision there were two main reasons.\n\nPage 44\n\nFirst, because the main purpose in founding our Society as long ago as 1847 was \"to foster the preservation, and to encourage the study, of all matters concerning the history of this part of Asia; and second, and more specifically because in the inaugural address of our first President, Governor Sir John Davis, he urged the adoption by the young Society of two practical aims in addition to the lecture and discussion programmes usually adopted by learned societies. His suggested aims were the establishment in Hong Kong (a) of Botanic Gardens, and (b) of a City Museum.\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206658, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 206, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "200\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nU.S.A. and Britain. One day, his uncle, an expatriate Chinese in New York, noticed a Water Pine in a garden bearing the Village Representative's name as donor. Mr. Man was obviously very proud of this. He also recalled that some 15 years ago the Director of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries had given him ten seedlings to plant in the village, but unfortunately none had survived.\n\nMany prominent persons have come, paused to admire the longevity of these two trees and heard of the interesting story about them. They are probably the oldest living trees of this species in the New Territories. They are valued not only for their longevity but also for their capacity as producers of viable seed. In 1969, germination tests were carried out with this seed and results showed 60% germinative capacity. Requests for the supply of seed have frequently been received from overseas by the Conservation and Forests Division of the Agricultural and Fisheries Department.\n\nThe condition of these two remarkable trees remains reasonably healthy but they will undoubtedly lose vigour with advancing age. How to perpetuate them is a matter of concern. The best way of achieving this would be to propagate seedlings and to plant them out in localities similar to their natural habitat. In the last two decades seedlings of Water Pine were planted in the Royal Hong Kong Golf Course at Fanling and at Tai Po Kau and Tai Lam Chung forest reserves, but only a few have survived. The largest surviving group is on the Golf Course where 10 trees are growing. The biggest of these is now 18 feet tall and 15 inches in girth, with an average growth rate of 0.2 inches per year over the last 10 years. In view of the rarity of the species, it is advisable to plant more of them in suitable localities throughout the New Territories and on Hong Kong Island. The species has not yet been included in the collections in the Botanic Gardens but planting stock is being made available and this omission will be rectified in the next planting season.\n\nEditor's Note. This article is reproduced with kind permission of the Director, Agricultural and Fisheries Department, Hong Kong, from the department's publication Wildlife Conservation, Newsletter No. 12, April 1971. The bulletin is prepared for game wardens, and is in English and Chinese. Persons who are interested may be provided with copies, if available, on application to the Department. The author, Mr. Shen Dze-chia, Assistant Forestry Officer until his recent retirement, is a graduate of the University of Nanking.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209355, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 12, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "It is with much regret that I record that among the deaths of members this year are some of our oldest friends. One, Mr. Holmes Welch, was a founding member of the Society and Member of Council during our first four years. He came to Hong Kong with the American Consulate General after academic studies in Sinology and publication of a highly original work on Taoism: The Parting of the Way. In Hong Kong his interest in Chinese religion and philosophy, and the organization of religious institutions, continued, and he gave one of the very first lectures to the Society, published in our first Journal, “Buddhist organization in Hong Kong”. Later he left the Consulate but remained in Hong Kong to continue field research into Chinese Buddhism, working with refugee monks. In the late sixties he published several volumes on contemporary Buddhism in China. After returning to the United States he continued his sinological studies and whenever I met him at conferences on religion he always asked after the progress of the Society.\n\nAnother of our recently deceased friends was Mr. John Romer, Curator of Mammals at Hong Kong's Zoological and Botanic Gardens, Hon. Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Hong Kong, and Senior Pest Control Officer of the Hong Kong Government until he retired. He has contributed on several occasions to the Notes and Queries section of our Journal.\n\nIt was also with great shock that we learnt of the death, in January this year, of Barbara Ward, whose last talk to the Society was given only just over a year ago. Barbara was the first anthropologist to conduct field-work in Hong Kong. Coming out in 1950 she picked as her field a very challenging group about which very little was known from direct contact: the Cantonese Tanka, or sui seung yan “people upon the water” as they preferred to be known, that is, the floating population of fisherfolk. She showed how the traditional Chinese institutions and culture in which they participated were modified by their very way of life: ancestor worship is different when you do not live on the land, the role of father in a family is different too when he is also captain of a boat. Barbara's later studies in Hong Kong, to where she frequently returned, included Cantonese opera and its role in\n\nxii\n\nPage 12\n\n \n\nPage 12 \n\nPage 12 \n\nxii \n\nPage 12 \n\nPage 12", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210721, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 72, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "55\n\nTHE HONG KONG BOTANICAL GARDENS, A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW\n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU\n\nThe Victorian era in Europe was obsessed by the idea of cultivating exotic plants which had become more readily available as plant hunters explored more distant regions of the world. The culmination of this concept was the establishment of large botanic gardens where both local and exotic plants could be admired (often under unnatural conditions) by an incredulous populace eager to learn more of the distant parts of the Empire. In addition to this botanical zeal in Europe, the idea spread to various other areas of the British Commonwealth and botanical gardens soon sprang up in Rangoon, New Delhi, Madras, and Singapore, where for the first time local people were able to familiarize themselves with plants from their own as well as other regions of the world. In addition to this seemingly cosmetic role, botanical gardens also served other, more pragmatic, interests as the growth characteristics of more economically important plants could be examined for the first time under controlled conditions, enabling them to be exploited by commercial interests with an eye towards export trade.\n\nIn Hong Kong, the idea of establishing a Public Garden was mentioned officially for the first time in 1848, but even prior to that date, on March 27th, 1844, a letter of thanks from the Governor of Hong Kong was sent to the Deputy Governor of Bengal thanking him for a copy of the printed report of the Honorable Company's Botanic Gardens, indicating that the idea of a similar garden in Hong Kong had already been mooted. The first indication that Hong Kong was to be blessed with such a garden was made by Charles Gutzlaff in a statement to the Hong Kong branch of the\n\nAUTHORS' ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:\n\nThe authors wish to express their gratitude to the staff of the Library and Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, the Public Records Office of Hong Kong, and the City Hall Public Library, Hong Kong, for their kind assistance.\n\nS.P. Lau wishes to acknowledge with thanks the permission given by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries to pursue a Ph.D. project at the University of Hong Kong, this article being a section of the thesis under preparation.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210724, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 75, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "58 \n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU \n\nLordship that the house in which he resided, (situated within the grounds alluded to), has been tendered to me for a Government House; I did not trouble your Lordship with this matter, being of opinion that the house in question, considering its locality and other circumstances connected with it, is totally unsuitable for the purpose.\" \n\nFollowing continued discussions with the Hong Kong Government, the Governor, Dr. Sir John Bowring, F.R.S., F.L.S. a botanist in his own right, wrote on August 14th 1855 to Lord John Russell asking for money from the Colonial Funds to establish “a Public Botanic Garden”. In addition, Bowring suggested that a house would be built for such a person (to be recommended by Sir William Hooker, Superintendent of Kew Gardens). Bowring stressed the commercial importance of the venture in the following passage: \n\n\"The access we are now obtaining to the Chinese Empire itself, and to circumjacent countries, would enable me, with such an auxiliary, to render valuable services, not to science alone, but to the commercial interests. As associated with science, inquiries are constantly addressed to me on the subject of dyes, oleaginous matters, fibres for textile purposes, materials for paper-making, and other topics; which the presence of a Botanist would enable me more satisfactorily to answer. \n\n++ \n\nThe Governor continued; \n\n\"Independently of which I might be able to render services to the Botanic Gardens in India, — to send useful plants and fruits to the mother Country and the Colonies, and generally to promote objects to which I cannot now personally attend,. . . \n\nDespite these overtures to London not much was done in Hong Kong to get the Botanical Gardens established, though various despatches in the form of Answers to Queries from Downing \n\nPage 75\n\nPage 76", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210727, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 78, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "61\n\n\"Rather a large outlay for Public Gardens but as the Revenue is very flourishing and the object (?) one of general public advantage\n\nHe sanctioned the costs!\n\n+\n\netc.\"\n\nIn addition to the actual cost of the gardens themselves, an extra provision of $3,562.24 was made on November 7th, 1862, \"for the erection of Quarters for the Government Gardener and the foreman of works…\". During the final stages of construction, there were the inevitable changes in plans and, in addition, the ground being levelled was so rugged and rocky, requiring much blasting, that a final supplementary funding was approved on July 13th, 1864, totalling $15,643.98.\n\nIt is difficult to establish who, apart from the Governor, were the people striving to establish the Botanic Gardens, which were comparatively expensive to develop and would, by definition, divert funds from other seemingly more important projects within the Colony. One such person was Dr. H.F. Hance, a distinguished botanist who later became vice-consul at Whampoa, and who played an active role in pushing the project forward. He wrote, for example, to George Bentham of Kew Gardens in November 1859:\n\n“When in Hong Kong, I had a talk with Sir Hercules Robinson (then Governor of Hong Kong) on the subject of a Botanic Garden, and he seemed to look hopefully, I thought, on the prospects of one being established.\"\n\nHis involvement in the project was confirmed later in his obituary, which appeared in the Hongkong Daily Press dated 26th June, 1886:\n\n\"When Hong Kong began to think of establishing a Public Garden, Dr. Hance was consulted as to the suitability of a site, and it was on his recommendation that that was chosen on which the old portion of the Botanic Gardens now rest.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210730, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 81, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "64\n\nly Australian and Japanese, some also from India.”\n\nIn the first annual report (31/12/1872) Mr. Ford reported that:\n\n\"It is to be regretted that, owing to the want of skilled European assistance, a portion of these Gardens could not be reserved for strictly botanical purposes, and for the formation of a collection of plants peculiar to China, and thus make the Gardens of use to those scientific visitors who make HK a place of call, as well as students who reside in the Colony.”\n\nThe importance of the Hongkong Botanic Gardens as a repository of plants with commercial value to the area had already been stressed by Dr. Hooker in his report to the Kew Royal Botanical Garden in 1871 when he referred to them:\n\nas a means of introducing a multitude of valuable vegetable products which are described by travellers in China, but which are totally unknown in Europe.\"\n\nIn the 1871 report Ford also refers to the construction of a \"chunamed basin\" 18 ft in diameter and 3 ft deep for the growth of a specimen of Victoria regia but there is no further mention of this eye-catching plant in any further reports. This might possibly indicate its inability to grow under Hong Kong's rather unique climate conditions. The report continues:\n\n\"The trees planted consisted chiefly of Banyans, India-rubber trees, Bamboos, Whampee, Litchi, Rose Apple (Jambosa vulgaris) and Longan which were obtained from Nurseries at Canton. A quantity of Chinese Fir Trees (Pinus sinensis) have been raised from seeds for the purpose of planting in the higher and more exposed parts of hills where other trees do not thrive. A quantity of the same kind of seeds have again been collected together with a larger quantity of Casuarina seeds, which have been matured on trees originally raised, I believe, from seeds received from the Mel-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210731, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 82, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "65\n\nBourne Royal Botanical Gardens. The Casuarinas grow moderately well on this island and are not much damaged by strong winds, which is the most important quality requisite for trees to possess in this part of the world where typhoons are so prevalent and the exposure is so great.\n\nThe problem of typhoon damage to the Botanic Gardens was stressed again by Ford in 1874 when he wrote to Dr. Hooker at Kew:\n\n\"I am afraid we should never be able to make an effective combination and groups of shrubs etc. to form a really attractive garden or landscape scenery on account of the typhoons which break and destroy subjects in such a frightful way as to entirely nullify our efforts in that direction, breaking up the picture, which we try to produce, into fragments only.\"\n\nIn 1876, in his second report to Kew, Mr. Ford outlined how the planting programme had been extended:\n\n\"The cultivation of trees has been extended in a new direction, the rearing and planting of Pinus sinensis on the hills. Before this was done, trees were only planted along the streets and roads for shade; but now we annually plant many thousands on hills above and surrounding the town. This tree is the one which has been found, by experience, to thrive the best of all yet tried on exposed situations; in fact, but few or none of these attempted (and experiments with other species have been made every year) will thrive at all on the higher grounds. Exposure and the hardness of soil prevent trees growing. All the trees experimented with on hills thrive well in made and sheltered ground in the gardens.\"\n\nIn an appendix to the 1876 report, note is made of the introduction of a new species of tree from Australia and the growth characteristics of a common southern Chinese species which was used widely.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210733, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 84, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "67\n\nmore can be planted. . . . The Fernery in Glenealy Ravine in the New Garden, which was made about five years since, has succeeded admirably.\n\nThe administration of the gardens also became independent of the Survey Department and emerged as the Botanical Department.\n\nMr. Ford also botanised widely in the area and started a collection of plant specimens as soon as he arrived in Hong Kong. The Herbarium was formally established in 1878 and in 1881 he started a series of botanical expeditions to southern China for the purpose of obtaining more knowledge of its then little known flora, especially the economic plants.\n\n\"The living plants introduced to cultivation by this expedition contain many things of very much interest which will be valuable acquisitions to (the) gardens.\"\n\nIn addition to his duties in the Botanic Gardens, Ford also had a much wider outlook on the flora of Hong Kong and in a letter to T. Thistleton-Dyer F.R.S. (dated 16/8/81) he illustrates his interest in the conservation of the natural flora on the hillsides:\n\n\"From the commencement of this year I have had two 'Forest Guards' at work whose special duty is to patrol the Island and prevent wanton destruction of trees and shrubs by grass cutters and other people. They are doing excellent service and I believe that we shall in consequence, get many more new plants. There are many shrubs growing on the hills which are unknown to me, and which, I believe have never been found in flower because of their having been so frequently cut down that they could not attain sufficient size to flower, but which, now that they are being preserved, will be able to flower.\"\n\nIn his report to Kew 1882 Ford estimated that about one-tenth of Hong Kong (including the New Territories, Lantao and Lamma islands) was planted. \"There might be about 25,000,000 trees", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210734, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 85, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "68\n\nthereon.\" \n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU \n\nBy this time Ford's time had to be divided between running the Botanic Gardens, establishing the herbarium and collecting specimens for both of these undertakings. Realising his own limitation he asked for the appointment of an assistant and a Mr. Westland arrived in the colony in May 1883. Earlier in February of that year Ford, anticipating the arrival of an assistant and the possible rapid expansion of the herbarium, sent the following letter to Kew:\n\n\"Could you also please send me sample of cartridge paper which you use for herbarium sheets, 16” × 10½”, together with prices and name of supplier? The Crown Agents sometimes disappoint me by sending paper unfit for our use and not according to samples sent with order.\"\n\nFord met with a constant barrage of difficulties from Government officials particularly from the Surveyor-General, Mr. Price and from members of the finance committee. Fortunately the Governor, Sir George F. Bowen, supported Ford and a letter by Ford written on 9/5/83 confirms this:\n\n\"H.E. was very pleased with what he saw and he has been very good to my dept. since he came. He offered to let me have at once another $1,000 for the completion of our New Gardens.\n\n\"(He [Mr. Price] wrote to the Governor before the Governor had been a fortnight in the Colony and asked him to reverse Sir J. Hennessy's policy (which had, as you know, been confirmed by the Sec. of State) in reference to my and his departments. The Governor told him that he did not see any reason to disturb the arrangement which his predecessor had made. Sir George told me he had visited the Gardens and that they did me very great credit.)\"\n\nLater in the same year Ford again met official opposition, this", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210737, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 88, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "71\n\n\"But I have learnt to be perfectly indifferent to the opinions in these matters of our officials. I should of course immediately prefer to have their cordiality, but if this cannot be without sacrificing the true interests of the department then I elect to go with the department and stand firmly by its scientific work.\"\n\nIn 1891 the New Building, being the accommodation for the herbarium, library, offices and store-rooms as well as the residence for the Superintendent of Gardens was completed and occupied.\n\nAfter years of effort both by Ford, his assistant and numerous workers, and despite the severe frosts of 1893 which severely affected many trees, the Botanic Gardens were at their best but in 1894 tragedy struck and Ford records this sombre statement on the effect of typhoons twenty years after he first wrote to Hooker at Kew on the identical subject.\n\n\"Immunity from destructive storms for many years past had allowed the general effect of the Gardens to reach a state of great beauty, which however, the last [October] storm wrecked in a cruel manner, and it will be many years, under the most favourable circumstances, before the Gardens can recover the beauty which was so greatly marred.\n\n“Our gardens were terribly wrecked in 1874 and now they are again [20 years later] reduced to a scene of desolation. All our large trees have been either totally destroyed or reduced to little more than stumps or bare poles.\n\n\"Outside the gardens, trees on the hills have come through pretty well, but the shade trees in the streets and roads have been terribly mutilated. Most of the roads and streets were blocked with fallen trees and broken limbs.\"\n\nAfter a long and distinguished career as Government botanist, as well carrying out the role of superintendent of the Botanic Gar-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210739, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 90, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "73\n\nassistant, Mr. S.T. Dunn, who was in turn succeeded by his assistant, Mr. W.T. Tutcher in 1910. Both Dunn and Tutcher carried out extensive botanical work and were co-authors of \"The Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong\". Tutcher wrote \"Gardening for Hong Kong\" which served as a useful manual for horticulturists unfamiliar with the peculiar seasonal conditions of Hong Kong. They also organized repair and maintenance work to the buildings of the Botanic Gardens and Tutcher introduced electric lighting into the Gardens in 1913 for evening functions.\n\nMr. H. Green succeeded Mr. Tutcher in 1919. He arranged the layout of some of the flower-beds and relaid the old paths and channels with cement granite. A granite memorial in the shape of a 'Pai Lau' was erected in 1928 at the top of the main entrance steps on the old Garden in memory of the Chinese in the service of the British Government who died during the Great War 1914-1918. Then in 1931 the lower portion of the Gardens was taken over by the Public Works Department for the construction of a service reservoir. Work was completed in 1933 and the area was recovered with black soil, turfed and reopened to the public.\n\nMr. Green retired in 1937 and the vacant post was taken up by Mr. F. Flippance after a series of quick changes of appointments. By this time the activities of the Department had expanded so much that forestry in fact accounted for 65 to 70% of its work, the rest being botanical, gardening, and agricultural. In fact, afforestation work on the hills was carried out by the Gardens Department as early as 1876 but it was not until 1880 that planting on any large scale was undertaken and the Department had since been renamed the Botanic and Afforestation Department. The Botanic Gardens remained in good condition until the Second World War broke out.\n\nDuring the Second World War the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong resulted in extensive structural damage to the Botanic Gardens the site of which was badly cut up to provide earthworks for gun emplacements and defensive trenches. Much of the shrubbery was destroyed as were a number of the larger trees; additionally the surrounding railings and gates were removed to provide ease of access to military personnel and equipment. There are no\n\nPage 90\n\nPage 91", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210740, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 91, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "74\n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU\n\nrecords to indicate that the Botanic Gardens were preserved as had been the case at Singapore where a senior Japanese officer took over the role of Director and where botanical research continued throughout the occupation.\n\nFollowing the surrender of the Japanese military administration a rapid rehabilitation scheme was established whereby rubbish was removed from the garden site and serious attempts were made to re-establish the garden to its former appearance. In 1946 the internal restructuring of various Hong Kong Government departments resulted in the division of the original Botanical and Forestry departments into a Forestry Department and a separate Gardens Department.\n\nAt this stage there was no superintendent with overall supervision of the gardens but in 1947 Fr. T.F. Ryan, S.J. was appointed Acting Superintendent. He reported to Government in that year that:\n\n\"Returfing had to be done on a large scale, so as the replanting of flowering shrubs and trees. The gradual return of the Gardens to something approaching its pre-war appearance won favourable comments on many occasions.”\n\nMr. R.E. Dean assumed the post of Superintendent of Gardens in January 1948 and work continued on the restoration of the Gardens. The entrance gates and railings around the grounds were re-erected. Forty granite garden seats were replaced. The extensive earth mounds formed by the Japanese were cleared and the formal layout of garden beds enhanced the appearance of the Gardens. In 1949 the superstructure of the Plant and Fern House was completed, the Aviary restored in 1951 and the Mammal House restored in 1953.\n\nThe Herbarium collection, which had been shipped to Penang prior to the Japanese Occupation in 1940, was sent to the Singapore Botanical Garden by the Japanese for safe keeping. The collection was recalled to Hong Kong from Singapore in 1948 and the 40,000 specimens were first housed in the Supper Room of Gov-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210741, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 92, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "75\n\nernment House. It then occupied temporary accommodation on several occasions until it was eventually accommodated, in 1954, near the Department of Biology in the Northcote Science Building of Hong Kong University.\n\nTo satisfy the increasing requests for advice and technical assistance, the Gardens Department began, in 1949, to issue a series of monthly articles on everyday local gardening matters and provided them free on application. They were also published in a local magazine to obtain a wider distribution. The local and introduced plants in the Botanic Gardens were identified and re-labelled and the first post-war flower show was held in June 1954.\n\nFollowing another major restructuring of Government offices, the departments of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry and Gardens were amalgamated into one Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in October 1950. Later in 1953 the Gardens Division, including the Botanic Gardens and the Herbarium, was transferred to the Urban Council and Urban Services Department which was also responsible for a wide range of services in the urban area.\n\nThe herbarium staff was comparatively active, making field collecting and preparing the Check List of Hong Kong Plants. It was first issued in 1962 as a cyclostyled edition, enumerating all of the identified species and varieties of vascular plants growing in Hong Kong, both native and introduced. The check list was revised in 1965 and 1966.\n\nIn 1965 Mr. J.D. Whitehead was appointed Principal Amenities Officer on the retirement of Mr. R.E. Dean and the post of Superintendent of Gardens was abolished. The programme of providing recreation areas had been expanding rapidly to meet the demand of an increasing population and increasing standard of living. The Botanic Gardens were maintained though serious botanic work was carried out mainly by the herbarium staff. The herbarium collection was moved back to Government premises, on the 8th floor of Causeway Bay Magistracy Building, in 1967. The booklet, Hong Kong Trees, illustrated with coloured photographs, was published in 1969, which became the first of a series of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210742, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 93, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "76\n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU\n\npopular booklets on Hong Kong flora, fauna, and minerals.\n\nThe Hong Kong Herbarium was transferred to the Agriculture and Fisheries Department in 1972. The Check List of Hong Kong Plants was updated and formally printed and published in 1974. It was again revised and published in 1978.\n\nIn 1975 the Botanic Gardens were renamed the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, resulting from a significant expansion of the zoological work under the curatorship (in an honorary capacity) of Dr. K. Searle, in the early 1970s. The collection housed rare or endangered species of animals and birds for conservation and educational purposes. In 1983 the construction of a new large free-flight aviary and a new mammal complex were completed though the most prominent horticultural feature of the Gardens, the Fountain Terrace, had to be removed to allow for the reconstruction of the roof of the service reservoir over which it was built. Work was completed in 1987 with the provision of a larger fountain of attractive design, an expanded collection, enlarged catering facilities and a book shop.\n\nIn 1984, a typhoon again caused serious and widespread damage throughout the Gardens. The Gardens had to be closed for a week to allow for the clearance of debris to proceed. The large greenhouse was damaged beyond repair and had to be rebuilt.\n\nThough the facilities of the Gardens have improved greatly over the years, steady urban encroachment has reduced its original size of about 7 hectares to the present 5.35 hectares. It is conveniently located at the centre of the city and is a popular outdoor recreational and educational facility in Hong Kong. It attracts 3 million visitors a year, including overseas visitors, and is looked after by a staff of 66, including a park keeper, a zoo keeper and numerous gardeners.\n\nSOURCES OF REFERENCE MATERIAL\n\n1. The Bentham Correspondence\n\na) Vol. 2 and Vol. 5\n\nb) Chinese and Japan Letters ALC-HAN 1865-1900", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210743, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 94, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "77\n\nLibrary and Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England\n\n2. C.O. No. 129 series for the years 1844 to 1865\n\nPublic Records Office, London and Hong Kong.\n\n3. Annual Reports:\n\na) Gardens Department, Hong Kong Government, for the years 1872 to 1879\n\nb) Botanical and Forestry Department, Hong Kong Government, for the years 1880 to 1939\n\nc) Gardens Department, Hong Kong Government, for the Financial Years 1946-47 to 1949-50\n\nd) Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department, for the Financial Years 1950-51 to 1953-54\n\ne) Urban Services Department and Urban Council, Hong Kong, for the Financial Years 1953-54 onwards.\n\n4. Eitel, E.J. 1895, Europe in China: The History of Hong Kong from the Beginning to the Year 1882, Kelly & Walsh Ltd. Hong Kong.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214312, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 170, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "134\n\nhave therefore added it here for the record.\n\nThe Sowerbys were an old family of Saxon stock that can be traced back to the time of Edward the Confessor, and possibly earlier to the first kings of Kent in the fifth century AD.\n\nArthur de Carle Sowerby was the great grandson of James Sowerby, who died in 1822, the botanist who wrote English Botany and was one of the founder members of the Geological Society. His son in turn continued his work and helped organise the Royal Botanic Society and Gardens in Regent's Park.\n\nOn his mother's side Arthur was descended from Pierre Séguier, the Chancellor of France in the reign of Louis XIII; he was also the great grandson of Anthony Stuart, the miniature and portrait painter of the early Victorian period. Arthur's uncle was part-founder and first Keeper of the National Gallery of Portraits in Trafalgar Square.\n\nAt the end of his schooling he began his training to be an artist but soon left it for that of a scientist, working for his BSc. at Bristol. He returned to China having dropped out of College and after his arrival back in China he was appointed in 1906 in the double capacity of lecturer and curator on the staff of the Anglo-Chinese College in Tientsin.\n\nHe served in France during World War 1 as Technical Officer in the Chinese Labour Corps, and on his return to China made his headquarters in Shanghai where he remained until the end of the Second World War.\n\nHe developed an interest in Chinese Art and was impressed by the accuracy of ancient Chinese craftsmen in modelling pottery animals for the tomb, an accuracy that enabled him as a naturalist to identify the breeds of various domestic animals in use in ancient China. He wrote a series of articles for the China Journal on Birds in Chinese Art; the Owl in Chinese Art; The Flora in Chinese Art; Rocks, Mountains and Water in Chinese Art; Animals in Chinese Art; as well as Animals in the Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales of China. His interest in craftsmanship also led him to write a series of articles on Chinese arts and crafts, including four papers on the Chinese ivory industry.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 } ]