Sessional_Paper_1887-1888 — Page 318

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The western district of the town situated below the level of the Pokfulam Road, High Street and Bonham Road as far eastward as Ladder Street is almost entirely occupied by Chinese tenements with the exception of the Gas Works, the Sailors' Home, the Government Civil Hospital Buildings and some large Godowns or ware-houses along the Praya.

On that portion of the Western district situated above the level of the Pok- fulam Road, High Street and Bonham Road no Chinese houses are allowed, a recent local enactment entitled The European District Reservation Ordinance (16 of 1888,) making it illegal to build any but European houses above such levels.

This higher portion of the Western District is at present only partially built over. The line of water conduit from Pokfulam practically bounds the probable future extension southward of building operations in the Western and Central Districts.

The Central District situated between Ladder Street on the west and Garden Road on the east, is occupied below the levels of Gough Street, Gage Street, Lyndhurst Terrace, Wellington Street, and Ice House Lane, mainly by Chinese houses. Along each side of Queen's Road are to be found the better class of Chinese shops, there are however situated along Queen's Road and the Praya, several European shops and most of the mercantile hongs, this being the European business part of the city. The upper portion of the Central District is occupied by European residences and public buildings including Government House, the Government Offices and the Gaol. The Botanical Gardens are also situated in this district. The portion above the Caine Road is only partially built on.

The next division between Garden Road on the west to Arsenal Road on the east is occupied almost entirely by the Naval and Military buildings. Eastward of Arsenal Road, follows the thickly populated Chinese district of Wantsai. The buildings along the Eastern Praya are principally ware-houses, there are also, however, some European tenements in the Eastern District, among others the Royal Naval Seaman's Hospital and European residences on Morrison Hill, Caroline Hill, and Leighton Hill, all situated in extensive grounds of their own. In this district there is still room for further building.

With the exception of the extreme western suburb of Kennedytown, and small portions of the Wantsai and Causeway Bay Districts on the eastern side of the town, the whole of the lower levels of the city are closely built over.

In the month of March of this year, the Registrar General caused a census to be taken in three districts of the western part of the city, of the respective areas of 13, 7·71, and 3·52 acres including streets, with the result that an average population was found of 1,077 1,602 and 488 persons to the acre in the three districts respectively. I doubt if this density of population is reached in any city or town of the United Kingdom or of the continent of Europe. In considering however the question of the effect of overcrowding on the health of the population of Victoria the fact must not be lost sight of that the city is of but limited width, occupying only a narrow strip of ground, with an extensive harbour on its northern, and with a considerable open space on its southern side.

METEOROLOGY.

Rain-fall. It will be seen from table No. 1, page 7, which I have compiled from the Reports of the Director of the Government Observatory that the island of Hongkong is subject to very heavy rain-fall during short periods. I submit here- with some information on this subject in the form of diagrams shewing the great variations in the amount of rain-fall during different months in the year. contrast between the heavy rain-falls that annually occur between May and Sep- tember and the small rain-fall recorded during the months of January, February, November, and December is particularly noticeable.

The

Temperature, Humidity, Duration of Sunshine.-In table No. 2 will be found the mean monthly temperature obtained from hourly observations also the mean humidity for each month, and the total duration of sunshine. The temperature ranges from about 45° to 90° Fahrenheit, and the humidity in 1887 ranged from

19 to 95.

Winds.Table No. 3 gives the direction, duration and velocity of the winds for each month in the year.

Easterly winds predominate nearly the whole year but southerly winds occur to a large extent during the months of May, June, July, August, and September. The Meteorological Observatory is situated on the Kowloon peninsula 110 feet

above sea level.