[ { "id": 204827, "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-1964", "page_number": 130, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "A RECONNAISSANCE OF MA WAN\n\n109\n\nthe thick weather would allow us to judge, we thought to the contrary, and it is sketched in according to the concurring opinions of the gentlemen on board\". Immediately after dinner we weighed and worked out of the bay, we anchored in the evening at the outermost anchor the weather again became thick and squally with rain. At break of day we weighed and worked over to anchor on the north shore which is laid down in the charts as a part of the main. It was now so thick that we could only see the Bottoe Islands12 at intervals, and very rarely the shore of Lantao. At eleven it cleared a little, we again got under weigh, and stood eastward along the shore, having a fine deep bay with a sandy beach to our left. We saw some large fishing boats and several huts, apparently the habitations of fishermen along the shore marked G. When we got off the point G we had irregular and very strong gusts of wind off the high land, and we could get no bottom with a hand line of 14 fathoms. Westward of the point H is a beach of about three quarters of a mile on which is a village consisting of ten or twelve houses13; some of these appeared very lately to have suffered from fire. On seeing the vessel approach, five or six men ran to the top of a small, but rather high conical rock, at H, as if for protection, here they remained till we passed them. The wind still blew fresh in puffs off the land, and we could get no bottom, at length however we got up to anchor eastward of H. and anchored in 13 fathoms hard gravel and shells, with 15 fathoms under the ship's stern. From the strength and irregularity of the squalls, the rapidity of the currents in this narrow channel, and the badness of the ground on which we had anchored, Captain Proctor wished to get away again with the vessel as soon as possible; we therefore went on shore on the island of Cowhee, agreeable to your Excellency's instructions.\n\nWe first stood over to the point I, we found no bottom with the hand line till very near the shore, where we had seven fathoms with a rocky bottom. We could not land here owing to the sea occasioned by the wind and current. We rowed eastward along the island six or seven hundred yards, where we turned a rocky point, close to which we had 34 fathoms with a rocky bottom, and a little way further out 17 fathoms. East of this is a small bay about 300 yards from point to point, and 80 or 100 yards in depth. In this bay we had 7, 6, 5 and 44 fathoms over soft mud,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204830, "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-1964", "page_number": 133, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "112\n\nCRANMER-BYNG AND SHEPHERD\n\nweigh at daylight. The morning of the 17th was thick with much rain, we could scarcely discover the land, and were disappointed in our intentions of examining the islands, and of sounding around them. We had found that all the soundings within the line joining the point L, and the islands, were regular and in soft mud, and it is highly probable from the appearance of the land, that this bay affords good anchorage for the space of three or four miles, and the Bottoe Islands with the rock to the southward of them, would afford very good situations for batteries for its defence.\n\nThe westermost island appeared about a quarter of a mile in length, and nearly the same in breadth; on its south end, as we observed from the anchorage of Shatlapko, it ascends gradually from the water's edge, having a small bay as appears in the view; on the north, east and west sides, it rises boldly from the shore. A bank of land extends a little way from its north west angle, on which we found 44 fathoms water when very near the island.\n\nThe eastern island appears longer than the former; it is perhaps half a mile from north to south, and a quarter or upwards in breadth. It shows a bold shore, and has 13 and 15 fathoms water over soft mud close to its north end. They are each of them about 70 or 80 feet in height, and distant from each other about a mile. If these islands were occupied by good batteries, they would afford protection to a number of ships. The establishment might at first be small, and at very little expense, and the island of Lantao would at all time admit of its being extended at pleasure.\n\nIt is probable that the dotted line running south east from Shatlapko, should be nearly the boundary of the shallow water, but there is hardly a doubt that there is a sufficient extent of water of the required depth for any number of the largest ships beyond it, and this over a fine bottom of soft mud. The depth of water round the islands promises a good situation for heaving down ships and small as they are they have every appearance of fertility, being quite covered with shrubs and grass almost to the water's edge.\n\nThe point M appeared to project considerably into the bay, and to offer a good situation for a battery. Along the shore of Lantao there is occasionally cultivated land, particularly in the depth of the bay, where we observed a stream of water rushing down from the hills. We did not see the island named Tysa in the charts.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204831, "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-1964", "page_number": 134, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "A RECONNAISSANCE OF MA WAN\n\n113\n\nCaptain Proctor in his passage from Chusan in the Endeavour in October last, came through what is called the Cowhee Passage. It was then blowing hard from the south east. The pilot carried him to the westward of Cowhee, and he anchored for the night in 8 fathoms water, soft mud, off the point L. In the morning he passed to the southward of the Bottoe Islands, having 5 and 6 fathoms over soft mud all the way in shore.\n\nOn the morning of the 17th we got under weigh and passed close to the northward of the Bottoe Islands, we then stood over to the north shore, and worked up to the northward of the islands of Lonkoo25 and Lintin. The weather was so thick that we were frequently out of sight of land. At the turn of tide we anchored near some fishing stakes in 4 fathoms water, Lintin bearing SSE distant about 15 miles. On the 18th we weighed and worked up to Anson's Bay, and on the 19th we passed the Bocca Tigris, and reached the Indiamen at the second bar. The 20th in the evening the Jackall arrived at Whampoo.\n\nSigned: HENRY WM. PARISH\n\nLieut. Royal Artillery\n\nN.B. The soil in general is free from stone, but the surface of the hill on the north west side of the island is covered with stones of a moderate size, and proper for building.\n\nGeographical Comments\n\nAny note on the value of Parish's survey of Ma Wan (Cowhee) and Lantao Island must inevitably take into account the state of nautical knowledge of Hong Kong waters at the time. This was probably sketchy; indeed, Parish himself states that he made a major revision to the outline of Lantao. His own work was very accurate, and his records of depths and currents off Lantao and around Ma Wan are confirmed exactly on modern charts26. His constant harping on the difficulties of navigation, however, cannot be ascribed entirely to the awkwardness of the local topography; bad weather (of which he had plenty), and a clumsy square-rigged ship, cannot have helped to raise his opinion of the area.\n\nThe channels around Ma Wan and North Lantao contain some of the deepest and most dangerous waters in Hong Kong. Both on rising and falling tides, there is a concentration of currents of up to seven knots along both east and west coast of Ma Wan, and these converge in the channel between Lantao Island and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205019, "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-1965", "page_number": 127, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "118\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nhalf of the century could be made subsequently. This is a job for an historical geographer and I suggest that the Department of Geography in the University of Hong Kong would be the proper place in which to undertake this project. Such a map should then be printed and sold through the University Press. This would be a useful tool which scholars increasingly need as they dig deeper into the history of China's relations with the West in this part of Kwangtung and as the early history of the Colony of Hong Kong is more fully studied.\n\nWhile on this subject of local history I would like to take up a few points concerning the article entitled \"A Reconnaissance of Ma Wan and Lantao Islands in 1794\" by Mr. A. Shepherd and myself and published in Volume 4 of this journal. At the time this article was written Mr. Shepherd was a Lecturer in the Geography Department of Hong Kong University and I was a member of the History Department there. On page 115, the seventh line from the bottom, we wrote that in 1821 the Kwang-tung authorities were much stricter in enforcing anti-opium regulations. It would have been truer to have said \"from 1821 onwards.\" One of the virtues of Dr. Chang Hsin-pao's recently published book Commissioner Lin and the Opium War is that he gives ample evidence from Chinese sources to show that the Canton authorities had taken energetic and successful measures to prevent opium smuggling in the Pearl River before the arrival of Commissioner Lin in Canton in March 1839. Both Juan Yuan as Governor-General of the two Kwangs from 1817 until 1826 and later Teng T'ing-chen who was Governor-General from 1836 until 1840 took a tough line against Chinese opium smugglers within the Pearl River before Commissioner Lin arrived.\n\nI would like to add these few corrections to this article: On page 118 note 25, the name Tung Ku should read Lung Ku or Lung Kwu Chau. In note 26 for Tulse read Hulse. In note 27: the photographs are printed between pages 114-115 and were taken by me in 1963. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the help which we received in writing this article from Mr. James Hayes, Mr. Webb-Johnson and Mr. G. B. Endacott.\n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205984, "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-1970", "page_number": 64, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "ASPECTS OF HONG KONG MARINE FAUNA\n\n59\n\narrow worm is found in it. Light is another important factor, for only the blue end of the spectrum penetrates much beneath the surface of the water. This means that at only a few feet below the water's surface, blues and greens are the predominant colors, and lend an ethereal background to submarine photographs, unless artificial light is employed. Other factors, such as pressure, depending on depth; available nutrients, or food sources; and the type of bottom on which the organisms living in a particular habitat are found, are also important factors.\n\nThe focus of tropical marine fauna in the Pacific Ocean centers around Indonesia, and spreads widely to include the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, the South Pacific, and north to Hawaii, and is thus called the Indo-Pacific marine faunal realm. Variety is great in this realm, but representatives of most marine groups can be found in areas anywhere in the region. The fauna of Guam, in the Marianas Islands, is thus similar to that of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, or that of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.\n\nMany marine organisms associate with one another, often in most peculiar ways. In some areas of the world, pearlfishes, which are my own specialty, live inside the body of sea cucumbers*. Some species of pearlfish are parasites, while others only use the body of the sea cucumber as a house, coming out into the open sea at night to feed. Clownfishes are another example. They often live in the folds of sea anemones. Although the clownfish is not harmed, other fishes approaching the anemone are stung by poison-filled threads, quickly die, and the clownfish and anemone share the meal.\n\nMarine biology is thus a fascinating field of study in which great advances are constantly emerging. Its importance, with over 2/3 of the world covered by oceans, is becoming quite evident.\n\nMarine Conditions in Hong Kong\n\nLet us turn our attention back to Hong Kong. Having seen the importance of temperature to marine creatures, perhaps a look at the temperature ranges found throughout the year in Hong Kong would be beneficial. A graph plotting the average\n\n* Trott, 1970.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206620, "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": 168, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "162 \n\nW. SCHOFIELD \n\nthought to be older than the Han dynasty (210 B.C.). It was known to have been conquered by the First Emperor and added to China, but even history is silent on it prior to that time (220 B.C.). Hence its prehistory lay shrouded in almost darkness, with only a few vague traditions and scanty ethnographic and linguistic data to shed light upon it. \n\nThe first beginnings of enquiry into the pre-Chinese culture of South China date back to about 1926 when Dr. Heanley, then investigating the geology of Hong Kong as an amateur, noticed lying here and there on hills of gravelly clay formed from decayed granite, stones which could not have been formed and left there naturally, and which clearly had the shape of stone adzes, as a rule smoothed and polished. Realising the importance of these finds, he devoted much of his leisure to a careful search for more of them, and in so doing discovered a number of sites, which included an axe factory, a workshop for jewellers working in quartz and other stones, and shore settlements, presumably of fishermen, as well as hill settlements. In this work he was associated with Prof. Shellshear, of Hong Kong University, and shortly before leaving Hong Kong in 1930 he interested me in the subject. I had for some time been investigating the geology of the Colony, and started this new line in association with Dr. Heanley and Prof. Shellshear. My contribution consisted mainly in discovering new sites, chiefly in sandbanks on the coasts and islands of the New Territory. Special attention was paid to these for two reasons; first, the beaches were being vigorously dug for sand to be used in building and public works; second, these sandbanks were the only places where a succession of layers containing objects of different ages could be found. As no beds of limestone exist in the Colony, it was vain to look for caves. \n\nIn my explorations I had occasion to examine a beach site discovered by Dr. Heanley on the island of Lamma close to Hong Kong. This had been dug back a considerable distance further, and I saw, littered over the beach, vast quantities of pottery, with more projecting from the sandy cliff behind. One piece of a cup I found was covered with a bottle-green glaze, a ware which was later found to be a feature of the culture at this and several other sites in Hong Kong. Later visits to the site revealed that bronze weapons and tools were to be found in fair number; in addition, rings of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211902, "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-1989", "page_number": 317, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "292\n\nhas to keep up about a dozen of these servants, for each one only does one thing.\n\nOn Thursday morning weighed anchor. There was scarcely any breeze, and it was only a short distance we made, before we stopped at night. On Friday we were off again, and got a little breeze. About midnight through sheer ignorance and carelessness the ship dashed onto the Aganeiten rocks, and there was a fine crash. The captain was quite paralysed, and did not know what to do. The ship would have doubtless broken up and never been got off; but all at once the wind changed and blew her clean away from danger. Truly a merciful Providence attends us, or we should long ago have gone to the bottom. The captain evinced his gratitude when his fright was over by cursing and swearing worse than before, and bullying the men. In fact the men are continually on the point of mutiny. All I wonder at is that they have not done so before.\n\nWe reached the strait of Banca at last, after several days without wind. As we entered we passed the mail steamer to Batavia, and a Dutch ship aground. We were three days going through, on account of the wind. At night we stopped off another Dutch ship going to Singapore and Hong Kong. In the morning she was off an hour before us. Our masts are not yet only half up, so that in a few hours she was out of sight. The captain does not intend to finish the masts till he gets to Hong Kong, although that was the excuse for going to Batavia.\n\nThe breeze grew a little fresher toward evening, and at night we were going on about five miles an hour. Early in the morning, I heard the cry \"Breakers ahead\", and in another moment came another crash or two, and the ship was dashing on a coral reef. Two large rocks wedged us in, and there we were, expecting to go to pieces since the sea and wind increased and there was no chance of getting off. We were right in the middle of the Toedjoe Islands, which are considered as very dangerous. The captain did not even try to get her off. About noon however with our usual good fortune in difficulties, the water rose about 10 feet, and by sending out an anchor in the ship's pinnace, we drew the ship gradually out of danger, and got clear again. This was celebrated as before by renewed blasphemy.\n\nJuly 25th\n\nWe have now crossed the line, and are less than a thousand miles", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211903, "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-1989", "page_number": 318, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "293\n\nfrom our journey's end. The wind for days has sent us along at two or three miles an hour; but we hope it is now freshening for good. We ought here to have the regular SE monsoon, but it seems we do not deserve it. The captain tries to persuade everybody that it is through someone on board; and often he makes out that no ship can sail, with a b---- of a parson on board, as he considers me. All I wonder at is that his swearing has not been more severely punished, and that worse visitations have not befallen us. It is truly wretched to live with such a man, whom you perpetually feel to be your enemy, and whom you know hates you from the very bottom of his heart. Nowhere can I get out of the way of his swearing; and his daily conversation, saying nothing of his swearing, is enough to disgust even the lowest of the low.\n\nThe night before last an amusing incident occurred, which at the time was rather alarming. Of course you know these islands are infested with Malay Pirates, who attack every ship that falls in their way, and murder the crew to get the cargo, after which they sink the ship. About four o'clock I was woke out of sleep by a shout. I heard the captain run on deck and in a tone of despair say: \"Good God, it is a pirate boat alongside; we shall all be murdered.” I instantly got up, and dressed, and after putting my watch out of sight, was ready to sell my life only after trying my best at fighting. I determined that if I was robbed, the fellows should pay dearly for what they got. No one had seen the boat come alongside. The lookout had not seen it through negligence, and the second mate on the quarter deck had not seen it, because it lay the other side of the mainsail. But nobody moved, and there the boat lay, till at last we came to look closely at it, and found that it was an old tree that had been washed away by the sea, and drifted along side of the ship. The shoals of fish following it and leaping out of the water, sounded like the oars of a boat. Poor captain's guilty conscience made him a coward. He did nothing and said nothing through fright. His heart I believe was up in his mouth, and he came down to his cabin, where I heard him vomiting at a fine rate. It just shows what he is, with all his bullying. It was, however, very gratifying to find out our mistake. Yet I cannot reflect that if it had been a true alarm, there could have been but little resistance, since the firearms are kept out of the way and out of order. We have nearly 50 muskets, but not one can be used. Our two signal guns are both dismounted, and lie down on the main deck.\n\nThe heat continues very great, but it does not effect me in the least.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212386, "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-1990", "page_number": 328, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "305\n\nWilson decided that the only option open to them for survival lay in a group taking one of the Norna's boats and attempting to reach civilization. A rescue party could then be arranged to retrieve the others.\n\nWilson himself led the party, taking with him his family, four Europeans, and two lascars. On the 17th April they set out in one of the Norna's open boats for Guam and arrived there seven days later. A small rescue party was organised but was driven back after encountering a severe storm and running short of supplies.\n\nWilson and his party then left Guam for Manila in a Spanish Trader and from there sailed to Hong Kong. When they arrived in Hong Kong in July, Captain Wilson reported the loss of his ship to Dent & Co. who in turn relayed the situation to the naval authorities.\n\nOn the 18th August 1861, Admiral Hope despatched the auxiliary paddle steamer HMS Pioneer from the colony to bring back the remainder of the Norna's crew. The Pioneer arrived at St Augustine on the 22nd September only to find the island deserted, save for a message left behind in a glass bottle attached to a tree. Nailed to the tree above the bottle was the Norna's wooden nameboard.\n\nThe letter stated that the crew had left the island on 19th August in one of the Norna's patched-up long boats because their provisions were long exhausted, there was little water and there were now no coconuts, turtle or wild fowl left on the island. They went on to say that they intended to make for Palau in their frail craft, 1,200 miles to the west.\n\nHMS Pioneer arrived back in Hong Kong on the 19th October and reported her findings to Admiral Hope. He promptly ordered another paddle steamer, HMS Sphinx, to be prepared and sail back into the Western Pacific, with explicit instructions to make a thorough search of the Caroline Islands,\n\nHope's written orders to Sphinx's captain, Cmdr Brown, included the route he was to follow, the contacts from whom he might get assistance in the Philippines and the charts he should take with him. On the 4th December 1861, HMS Sphinx sailed through Lei Yue Mun and headed for Manila. From there the Sphinx passed through", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214767, "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-1999", "page_number": 182, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "146\n\nJust as I was congratulating myself on a good day's work, a Jap officer came up and ordered me back into the lorry. Whimpey and Frank got off. He directed me by hand signs to drive to Courtlands Hotel which had been taken over by the Japs. The few remaining residents looked pretty scared. More troops piled in and, after a very trying drive through Kennedy Town, we finally reached the St Louis Industrial School where they all got out. We had passed hundreds of troops and the streets were littered with dead Chinese. I was beginning to think my work was done when several officers started arguing and kept pointing at me and looking aggressive. Suddenly one of the officers whipped out his sword and I thought they had decided to bump me off but to my amazement he produced a bottle of beer, nipped the top off with his sword, and handed me the bottle. I was then given a loaf of bread. Apart from one or two soldiers, they had treated me very well. My wings seemed to fascinate them. By now I wanted to call it a day but another officer got in the lorry and off we went back to the hotel. He had some beer with him and handed me the bottles to open. I stopped the van and wedged the tops off on the mudguard. This seemed to amuse him and he tried to do the same on the dashboard with drastic results. Once more the van is loaded up with troops. Another officer takes over who is not so pleasant and I get half an inch of bayonet in my bottom for being too slow. Back to the School where another terrific argument starts. I want to go back with the van but two officers decide to drive me back in a Ford Ten. They don't use any lights and we have several narrow escapes from hitting lamp posts. Suddenly I see we are heading for one of the islands in the middle of the road and shout a warning. Too late and there's a terrific crash and we finish up on our backs. By now I am fed up so, bowing politely, I leave them and walk the two miles to China Command.\n\nSaturday. Five of us sleep in a small office. All our water has to be drawn from a stream nearby. No one knows what is going to become of us and everyone tries to guess at our future destination. Some Jap officers inspect us.\n\nSunday twenty eighth. More troops arrive from Stanley and report that Japs raped and bayonetted nurses in St Stephens hospital, also killed the wounded. Colonel Smith, whose wife was one of those killed, goes nearly mad and tried to get at the nearest Jap. Several atrocity stories come to light and atmosphere becomes very tense. Two destroyers", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214783, "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-1999", "page_number": 198, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "163\n\nhe put a box around every 34th letter rather than every 33rd, he clearly could not quite remember exactly how to translate it. The two names which make up the keyword are of course his own name and the name of his then fiancée Pamela.\n\nWhat Did It Say? The diary told the story of the battle for Hong Kong and of life in the Sham Shui Po camp during the period December 7 1941 to March 31 1942. Some extracts are as follows.\n\nDecember 23rd. Up early, lucky for me, as a bomb lands on my bed just as I leave the room wrecking everything including my kit.\n\nDecember 25th. What a Christmas day, empty stomachs, tired out, and heaven knows what is going on. At ten am a message arrives saying there is a truce until midday. This news is immediately followed by a terrific bombardment of our positions. Not my idea of a truce.\n\nDecember 26th. Several (Japanese) officers started arguing and kept pointing at me and looking aggressive. Suddenly one of the officers whipped out his sword and I thought they had decided to bump me off but to my amazement he produced a bottle of beer, nipped the top off with his sword, and handed me the bottle. I was then given a loaf of bread. Two officers decide to drive me back in a Ford Ten. They don't use any lights and we have several narrow escapes from hitting lamp posts. Suddenly I see we are heading for one of the islands in the middle of the road and shout a warning. Too late and there's a terrific crash and we finish up on our backs. By now I am fed up so, bowing politely, I leave them and walk the two miles to China Command.\n\nDecember 30th. It would appear that we are going to Sham Shui Po. The whole camp has been stripped of every useful article by looters and had also been bombed. All doors, windows, furniture, and fittings had been taken leaving just hulks of buildings. Even in peace time it was an awful dump, but now it looked as if a typhoon had hit it.\n\nDecember 31st. There are over six thousand men in the camp with no sanitation and rotten food. We have no lights and go to bed soon after dusk. We have one meal at nine and another at five consisting of soggy rice and are permanently hungry. And so ended nineteen forty-one.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216204, "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-2002", "page_number": 503, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "437\n\nAssociation on 3 December 1999. Behind the church over 100 steps led up to a tall statue of St Francis Xavier. Beside the steps were 14 stone posts bearing Chinese numbering and inscription. The pedestal of the statue bears worn inscriptions in Chinese and Portuguese - ‘Aqui foi sepultado S. Fran.co Xavier da Comp.a de Jesus, Alpo do Oriente. Este Padrao se levantou no anno de 1639.'\n\nThe current caretaker, Mr Lam, took over in 1996 from a Christian caretaker aged 86, who had cared for the church since 1984. We had the pleasure of meeting this delightful old man in the village beside the church. The current caretaker suggested that for further information we could contact the Religious Affairs Dept. of Tai Shan Municipal Government on Tel 075 552 5980.\n\nWe returned to the port for a good seafood lunch. The ferry arrived a little late but took us safely back to Shen Ju in good time for us to hire a taxi to Zhuhai. There we crossed the border to Macau and enjoyed our dinner accompanied by a bottle of good Portuguese wine, and a toast to the memory of St Francis.\n\nA visit assisted by China Travel Service\n\nBy chance, in June 2001, I (Chris Bailey) had read an article in HK Magazine about the Jesuit-run Xavier Retreat House on Cheung Chau - dedicated to the missionary Saint Francis-Xavier. The article quoted the resident priest, Father Kane, as follows: \"Xavier was one of the founding members of the Jesuits, and came to Asia in 1542. He was a tough guy, a trailblazer and died very near to Hong Kong, on an island about 60 miles west of Macau. His letters describe travelling from Japan and trying to get to Guangzhou, and stopping somewhere nearby to get fresh vegetables and water. There is one historian who theorizes that he stopped at the Old Port in Hong Kong. In any case, he must have passed through Hong Kong waters and seen the islands here. So I stand here (in the Xavier Retreat House) and see what he saw over 400 years ago It's very private, on top of a hill and overlooking the sea. It's a very beautiful sight.”\n\nThis information inspired me to speak to Father Kane who said he knew the island well, had been there several times via Macau and that there was a non-active church dedicated to Francis Xavier, built close", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]