RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 76 D.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU popular booklets on Hong Kong flora, fauna, and minerals. The 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. In 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. In 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. Though 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. SOURCES OF REFERENCE MATERIAL 1. The Bentham Correspondence a) Vol. 2 and Vol. 5 b) Chinese and Japan Letters ALC-HAN 1865-1900 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 125 Between 1917 and 1923, membership doubled owing mainly to acceptance of the Protestant faith among the Miao tribesmen (La-Tourette, 1929). In addition to attracting businessmen, diplomats and missionaries, the unknown interior also coaxed several academics to make pilgrimages to the "Shore of Pearls". The most important of these for the natural sciences was undertaken by F.A. McClure, an American botanist teaching at Lingnan Agricultural College, who was commissioned to explore the land resources of Hainan, and if possible, conquer the summit of the rugged Five Finger Range: a feat which had eluded earlier European attempts (McClure, 1922). His first assault on the summit failed, but on April 20, 1922, his second push brought him through the dense undergrowth to the ceiling of the island (McClure, 1922). The important discoveries he made on these and subsequent expeditions to Hainan (1927, 1928, 1929, 1932) form the basis of a great collection of rare plants housed in Guangzhou (Fenzel, 1933), the New York Botanical Gardens, and for some specimens, the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University (Merrill and Medcalf, 1937). A zoological expedition, led by Clifford Pope of the American Museum of Natural History, went to Hainan in 1922 (Pope, 1924), while in 1928 the French missionary and ethnographer, M. Savina, studied in detail the language of the Li clans for the first time (Savina, 1929). The German, Gottlieb Fenzel, who journeyed through the interior in 1929 made a significant contribution to the geology and geography of Hainan (Fenzel, 1933), and his fellow countryman, H. Stubel, provided further information on the ethnology of Hainan's aboriginals from his visits in 1931 and 1932 (Stubel and Li, 1933; Stubel and Meriggi, 1937). These published reports by foreign academics provide the bulk of the information on Hainan readily accessible to the western bloc. Civil War and Japanese occupation In 1912, the Manchu dynasty came to an end with the abdication of the young Emperor, Hsuan-t’ung, and the New Republic was declared the constitutional form of state. However, efforts by the weak central government to create unity were sabotaged ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g Visits: Yin Tin Tsa, Sai Kung for annual Roman Catholic Church festival 1994 16 April Po For Island 1 May 16 July 20 September 21 September 5 November 26 November 3 December 10 December Ma Po Marshes with shump supper (repeated in September) Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance Monkey God Festival at Sau Mau Ping Swire Institute of Marine Science, Cape D'Aguilar Tung Lung Island HK Zoological and Botanical Gardens Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Oil Paintings - Fung Ping Shan Museum, HK University 17 December Shing Mun Redoubt 1995 18 February Sai Ying Pun Guided Walk 4 March Lei Yue Mun Headland Visits outside Hong Kong: 1994 October 1995 North Vietnam March Temples of South Taiwan Of course we must also thank all those who took time to lecture to us and let me read out a list of those Lectures: 1994 15 April Great Monuments of India. Dr. Shobita Punja 13 May 20 May 17 June Turbans and Traders HK's Indian Communities Ms Barbara-Sue White To the Farthest Port of the Rich East Salem's China Trade and the East India Marine Society Mr William Sargent Pregnancy and Childbirth in Hong Kong Ms Diana Martin ================================================================================