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All opium, on its arrival at Hongkong from India, should be bonded, and no opium should be allowed to be removed from bond except under proper guarantees as to its destination, or shipped, without the Harbour Master being furnished with a copy of the bill of lading.

The Customs of China should be supplied with regular returns of all shipments.

The Opium Farmer of Hongkong should be made to account clearly for every chest of raw opium supplied to him, and should not be allowed to handle more raw opium than is necessary to meet the opium-smoking requirements of Hongkong and of the new territory, and the demands of the prepared opium export trade to Australia, America, and elsewhere.

These precautionary measures are sure to decrease the revenue of Hongkong. If they are adopted, the Government of China should not hesitate either to lease the whole of the San On district or to adopt that boundary line which is the best in the interests of all parties concerned.

KOWLOON CITY.

The city of Kowloon is called in Chinese Kau Lung Shing. The term Shing is the ordinary one used for a city by the Chinese. It originally seems to have signified a rampart, surrounding a space; but it is now always applied to a city surrounded by a wall or rampart, as all Chinese cities are. The Convention refers to the retention of jurisdiction" within the city of Kowloon," thus clearly showing that the walled city is meant.

Kowloon is situated about a quarter of a mile from the sea shore. It is en- closed by a stone wall built in 1847, forming as nearly as possible a parrallelogram, measuring 700 feet by 400 feet, and enclosing an area of 63 acres. The wall is built of granite ashlar facing, is 15 feet in width at the top, and averages in height 13 feet. The wall has six watch towers, at present occupied as family dwellings, and two gateways, with doors made of wood and lined with iron sheeting. The parapet wall is built of granite, and has 119 embrasures. It is approached by four flights of stone steps. (See Sketch Plans of Kowloon City and Neighbourhood, Maps VIII. and IX., and photographs.)*

According to a return (see Appendix 7) furnished by the Deputy Magistrate, the total population of Kowloon city is 744; the garrison amounts to 544; the civil population to 200. The officials stationed within the city are, with the exception of one civil officer, a Deputy Magistrate, military officers, the head of whom is the Colonel Commanding. This officer is the chief military officer in the district of San On; is immediately subordinate to the T'i Tu, or General in Com- mand of all the land forces in the province of Kwong-tung. The Colonel's juris- diction is purely a military one, extending over the whole district of San On and the islands adjacent thereto. His original headquarters were at Taipang (sec Map VII.,* showing residences of officials), and his official designation is still Taip'ang Hip, or Colonel stationed at Taip'ang, at which place he has a yamên, or official quarters. The reason for his having taken up a residence within the city of Kowloon was to place him in closer relations with the Colony of Hongkong..

As the garrison now under the command of the Colonel is maintained for the defence of the district of Sau On and the adjoining islands, and as the larger por- tion of that district and most of the islands are to be leased by the British Govern- ment, most of the soldiers now supposed to exist under the Colonel's command will be disbanded or transferred elsewhere, whilst the services of those retained will be required not within, but outside, the territory referred to in the Convention. The residence, therefore, of the Colonel Commanding and of his troops within the city of Kowloon is entirely unnecessary. But even if it were necessary, the mili- tary requirements for the defence of Hongkong must surely render it impossible to allow the retention, in the very heart of the territory, of a garrison of soldiers belonging to a foreign power, however friendly that power may be.

The only civil officer resident within the city is a Deputy Magistrate. He is appointed not to control the 200 civilians resident within the city, who are really subject to the military, but to exercise a somewhat extensive jurisdiction outside the city, throughout a large portion of the new area. When that area has been taken over, there appears to be no reason why this office of Deputy Magistrate should continue to exist, as the jurisdiction now exercised by him will be merged in the administration of the territory under British rule.

* Not printed,

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