253
The total strength of troops in Garrison on June 30th, 1898, was 86 British officers and 1,624 British Warrant Officers, N. C. O.'s and men, with 18 Indian Officers and 1,053 Indian Warrant Officers, N. C. O.'s and inen, making a total strength of 2,781 as compared with 2,577 in 1897 and 2,739 in 1896. There were in addition 78 British women and 118 British children and also 48 Asiatic women and 48 Asiatic children.
The total strength of the British Fleet on the China Station, on June 30th, 1898, was 7,497 British Officers and men, 361 Chinese servants and 1 Japanese servant. At the census taken in January, 1897, the actual number of Officers and men of Her Majesty's Navy present in the Colony was 2,268, and in view of the considerable increase in the numerical strength of the Fleet since that date, the estimated number resident here (ashore and afloat) in 1898 has been put at 3,385. It must be remembered, however, that there is an important Naval Hospital in Hongkong to which invalids from the entire Fleet may be sent, and that the deaths occurring in that institution necessarily influence the death-rate to a degree proportionate to the strength of the entire Fleet rather than to the strength of the local contingent.
The Chinese boat population of the Colony has been estimated to the middle of the year to have been 33,370; but it is, I am afraid, a somewhat uncertain quantity, for the floating population of the Colony was given at the census taken in 1891 at 33,098 (including those in the Mercantile Marine), while at the census taken in 1897, it was found to be 33,275 which would indicate that this section of the population was not increasing in number to any extent. It would appear, however, that the census return of the floating population for 1891 cannot be relied upon and that the number given is probably considerably in excess of the real figure, and in view of the steady increase in the number of registered Chinese craft in the Harbour, it is probable that the floating population is increasing in number to a - greater extent than would appear from the census figures. These people make their homes on board the junks, sampans, cargo-boats, etc., and it is interesting therefore to note the differences in the incidence of various diseases upon them and upon the land population.
The number of registered boats belonging to the Port in 1898 was as follows:
Fishing and Trading Junks,
Cargo-boats, Lighters, Sampans, etc.,..
Total,
5,797
4,353
10,150
The number of boats licensed in 1897 was 9,954, in 1896 was 9,731, and in 1895 was 9,434. The population of the Colony is classified primarily into Chinese and Non-Chinese, the former being greatly in the majority. The Non-Chinese comprise a white population of 12,486, of whom 6,028 are civilians and the remainder belong to the Ariny and the Navy. "The coloured races number 2,704 and comprise East Indians, Malays, Philipinos and a few Africans. The white civilian population was shown at the 1897 census to consist of 2,374 British, 2,267 Portuguese, and a sprinkling of Americans, Germans, French and other Europeans.
The population is essentially a male adult one, as no less than 70.9 per cent. of the Chinese population and 58.6 per cent. of the Non-Chinese population are males, while considerably more than half of the population (52.6 per cent. of Non-Chinese and 55.9 per cent. of Chinese) are between the ages of 20 and 45. The proportion of the population of Great Britain between these ages is only 33.8 per cent. The City of Victoria is divided into ten Health Districts with one Inspector of Nuisances in charge of each, and the following table gives the number of houses and floors (ie., separate Chinese dwellings in most cases), the population and the area of each of these districts.
Districts.
Chinese Houses.
Floors.
Chinese Population.
Non-Chinese Non-Chinese
Houses.* Population.
Acreage.
Total No. of persons per acre.
1
421
862
7,885
57
420
531
15.6
2
870
2,119
21,626
13
1,152
267
85.3
36
85
4,294
348
1,920
158
39.3
954
3,019
23,794
112
1,898
45
568.7
957
2,857
22,244
25
350
23
982.3
6
825
2,330.
17,072
5
420
23
760.5
7
759
2,197
16,380
7
176
27
612.1
8
820
1,750
18,993
5
148
42
455.7
9
999
2,619
24,435
19
170
40
615.1
10
401
962
7,527
47
296
258
30.3
7,042 18,800
164,250
638
6,950
1,414
113.1
Exclusive of Barracks.
From this it will be seen that No. 5 Health District, which is situated in the centre of the city, shows acute surface crowding, while Districts 6, 7 and 4 are almost as densely crowded. The
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