Sessional_Paper_1904 — Page 512

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MISCELLANEOUS.

1. Early in 1902 a regular office staff was established. Six Surveyors were called in from the field to assist, 5 Draftsmen and Estimators were recruited from India and one Draftsman engaged locally. The maps were inked up as they came in from the Surveyors and the areas were estimated; the area of each holding was extracted twice independently by two separate men and the means passed by a third. The areas of each District were then totalled, the references entered and the area statements passed on to the Land Court. An office copy of the area statements of each District was kept and they will be given over with the original maps.

2. Two Chinese tracers were engaged in November, 1902, and one in February, 1903, to assist in preparing traces of Demarcation Districts, in order to supply the Land Court with sun prints; 555 traces were completed. 337 traces of a larger size, of the whole of the New Territory, were also prepared.

3. Two index maps have been prepared; one, on the scale of 2 inches to the mile, showing all the Demarcation Districts: and the other on the 1 inch scale showing how the larger traces fit.

4. Throughout the whole period the health of the establishment was bad, and the men were constantly being sent in to Hospital. One Inspector, one Surveyor and 5 Indian coolies died, and 6 Surveyors and 9 Indian coolies were invalided: 4 out of the 6 Surveyors died on the way home.

5. In September, 1903. I commenced work on the new general map of the New Territory, prepared on the scale of 2 inches to the mile.

The Map at present consists of eleven standard sheets, but this number can be reduced by the publishers.

The Trigonometrical and some of the Traverse Stations were plotted and by means of the Pantagraph all the Cadastral Surveys were reduced.

I am greatly indebted to Major A. S. KING, R.E., Officer in charge of Military Surveys, for the loan of the Military topographical maps of a portion of the New Territory, recently prepared on the scale of 8 inches to the mile.

These surveys

were reduced by me to the 2-inch scale and the contours now shown represent 100 feet levels. The contouring of the remainder of the New Territory outside the Military Surveys, has been sketched in chiefly with the aid of Mr. TATE'S 1 inch map.

My thanks are also due to Captain E. C. HARDY, R.N., H.M.S. Waterwitch, for the loan of his surveys of the coast line of Tolo Harbour, Tide Cove and Plover Cove.

The coast line of Mirs Bay, from Mirs Point to Sai Kung, has been taken from the Naval Chart.

The coast line of Deep Bay, from the mouth of the Sham Chun River to Tsun Wan, and the coast line of Lan Tao and adjacent islands, has been taken from Mr. TATE'S 1 inch map.

HONGKONG, 11th May, 1904.

W. J. NEWLAND.